Back in 2003 when I was writing my sourdough book "The Handmade Loaf”, I travelled to Sweden to understand rye crispbreads better, making my way to the organic Roslagsbröd bakery. There, huge dimpled rollers were part of a wheel-and-belt old school apparatus – fascinating in its complex Heath Robinson ingenuity – which squished and extruded the sticky grey rye dough into pitted sheets that were cut into rings and baked. The machinery made quick work of a very old home method of turning flour into crispbreads that would store for months, once dried in front of a fire. At home, a knobbly Kruskavel rolling pin would be used, rolling out a simple rye dough – 200g water, 100g rye sourdough at 1:1, 3/4 tsp salt, and enough rye flour (say 200g) to make a soft mixture – to be cut into discs. Sometimes today you’ll find them made with a mix of rye and wheat flour, and even with other ingredients added.

What I've done is take that as the inspiration for this recipe. But instead of a texture which is grainy and brittle, I've made one which is tenderly crisp with enough flexibility to wrap around a filling, by slightly enriching a simple crispbread mixture. The filling is based on a traditional Swedish dish of pearl barley with root vegetables - korngryn och rotsaker – and I must say, the combination creates something utterly delicious, especially when eaten with a spoonful of very mustardy mayonnaise. The dough is super-easy and unleavened, just stir the wet ingredients together, then mix in Stoate’s Organic Rye Flour, with some of their Organic Strong White Flour to help the dough stretch as you roll it with the beechwood Kruskavel rolling pin.

Though I’ve used pearl barley, you could use any cooked grains for this. In fact, Bakery Bits has a big selection of whole grains like rye, spelt and wheat, from excellent millers like Gilchesters and Foster’s Mill/The Prior’s, all excellent when boiled until tender.

Method

Mix the cooked pearl barley with the egg white in a bowl, then stir in half the crumbled goat’s cheese (saving the rest of the cheese to sprinkle over the filling when you assemble the rolls). Keep the barley, cheese and roasted vegetables to one side while you make the dough.

For the dough, whisk the water, honey, egg yolk, pepper and salt together then pour in the melted butter. Add the Stoate’s Organic Rye Flour and Organic Strong White Flour to the bowl and mix everything to a smooth dough.

Using extra flour and a plain rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1cm thick. Then using your knobbly Kruskavel beechwood rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle about ½cm thick and very dimpled, flipping it over halfway through so it is textured on both sides. Trim the edges to neaten the shape.

Put the barley mixture down the middle and crumble the reserved goat’s cheese over it, then top with a layer of roughly chopped roasted vegetables. Trim away any excess dough, leaving enough on either side to comfortably wrap around the filling with a little overlap (or if you’ve used loads of filling, add an extra base layer made from the dough trimmings). Then flip the filled dough over and cut into 5cm-8cm long “rolls”.

Place seam-side down on a baking tray lined with non-stick paper and brush with beaten egg. Heat the oven to 200°C fan and bake for about 25-30 minutes until golden and just beginning to burn slightly at the edges. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for about 15 minutes, then they’re ready to serve.
 
Recipe by Dan Lepard.