Mushroom & Barley Pie

everyone has at least a few staple foods that they always have on hand. for some people, it's Top Ramen. Others have more nutritious go-to items, like carrot sticks and granola bars. Some people (and these friends are the best kind to have!) always can be counted on for having freshly ground coffee or beer on hand.

my current cooking repertoire is well-perfected, but admittedly...unambitious. pasta, rice, and quinoa are my go-to items, usually augmented with an inordinate amount of garlic (by other people's standards), clams, or a handful of standard vegetables like onions, tomatoes, or mushrooms.

SO. the resolution is to start trying recipes that contain most of the staples that i already have on hand, supplemented with a few other inexpensive ingredients.

i picked this recipe because i have always had a soft spot for savory pies. i blame reading this on reading too many redwall books as a kid - i remember skipping over lengthy descriptions of battle scenes to drool over the descriptions of the epic feasts that the animals would throw after they inevitably vanquished whatever bad guy(s) was in town. (am i alone on this? am i a nostalgic idiot sometimes? these questions are beside the point.)

but i digress. point is, i have a lot of spare time to spend on the internet, i may or may not have googled "redwall pasty recipe" because i'm subject to incredibly persuasive and completely random food cravings...and here we are.

Mushroom & Barley Pie
[adapted wildly from a smorgasbord of sources, most prominantly from What Smells So Good? and Smitten Kitchen]

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup barley
6 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 head roasted garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 (1-pound) package frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water and a pinch of salt

The night before: soak barley in 6 cups water. The recipe can use pearl barley, but using hulled barley leaves the bran intact/is less processed/has more fiber, blah blah. If you use pearl barley, you don't have to presoak.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring barley (still in water that you presoaked in) to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until tender (around 1 hour). Drain and cool. (Reserve the barley water! You can water it down, add a little bit of honey, and drink it on its own.)

2. Take pastry out of the freezer to thaw.

3. While barley or farro cooks, cook onion in large saucepan over medium heat for 1 minute, then add the mushrooms. Cook on medium-high heat until mushrooms are soft (about 5-8 minutes). Cool.

4. Add barley to mushroom/onion mixture, then add feta and roasted garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

6. Roll out thawed pastry into two 9x12" sheets. Spoon filling over pastry, leaving a 1" border.

7. Brush border with egg wash, then place the second sheet on top. Press edges to seal, then crimp edges. Brush the top of the pie with remaining egg wash. Cut steam vents on top of pie.

8. Bake on middle rack of preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or under pastry is puffed and brown.

In the pie that I had made, I'd added some sun-dried tomatoes, which turned out to be an awful idea - the tomatoes completely overpowered the other flavors, so I've omitted it in the recipe above.

Another thought is that though I had been quite conservative with some of the ingredient quantities from previous recipes, it still made an enormous pie. An enormous pie that my vegan roommate can't really help me finish. So, if any of you out there are keen on having any of the leftovers and are willing to come to me, you know who to call.

Also, today is FINALLY when I'm allowed to shop for groceries again. Hallelujah!