Cheesy barley bake with mushrooms and spinach

A warming, wintry vegetarian barley bake, packed with tasty spinach and mushrooms. The tomato and cheese topping makes it extra special.

Another week, another meal required to cook itself in my absence. I really must find my daughter Kipper some extra-curricular activities that don’t take place in the hour before dinner time!

Barley = Cold weather food

Perhaps because of the cold weather, I had a yearning for barley.

There’s something about barley that’s so yummy and warming and wintery. I wasn’t entirely sure how I could concoct something with it that would cook itself in a pre-set oven in my absence, but then I remembered my rainbow quinoa bake. Inspired, I rummaged in the fridge and found some vegetables that would turn this humble grain into a whole dinner. 

Making the barley bake

The barley bake was pretty easy to cook and assemble. I prepared and cooked the vegetable components while the barley was simmering. Then I mixed everything together, put it in the dish, and organised the toppings. 

To make this tasty vegetable and barley bake yourself, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Pearl barley – of course!
• Vegetable stock powder (optional) – I like to add this to the water while the barley is cooking for more flavour, but you can use plain or lightly salted water instead if you prefer. You can also try my healthy homemade soup powder!
• Veggies – fresh spinach, onions and mushrooms
• Olive oil – to sauté the vegetables in
• Seasonings – I used dried thyme and ground black pepper
• 2 eggs – to bind everything together, and also add some protein to the dish

And for the topping:

• Cherry tomatoes – or use sliced regular tomatoes (or no tomatoes at all)
• Grated cheddar or other hard cheese – for that gorgeous golden melty top!

There’s always room for error…

I’m always a bit neurotic that the automatic-oven-switcher-on function will fail me, although so far (puh puh puh!) it has never let me down. Walking out of the house, knowing that the fate of our evening meal depends on my ability to persuade an appliance to spring into life with no-one there to watch it… I get cold sweats just thinking about it.

Of course I needn’t have worried! Opening the front door on our return we were greeted by the delicious aroma of our dinner. A bubbling, crispy dish of deliciousness was retrieved from the oven, and we tucked in to our hot barley bake without further ado.

“Don’t just eat the vegetables!”

DH is not a big barley fan, but he said that this was, “quite good….for barley.” I think that counts as approval. My daughter Kipper liked the barley part but wasn’t keen on the tomato topping. This wasn’t a huge surprise – tomatoes are one of the few foods she’s never really got on with.

At one point, DH caught himself saying, “Don’t just eat the spinach – you need to eat the rest, too!” But everyone says that to their pre-schooler, right?

We polished off this whole dish of yummy, cheesy, mushroomy, spinach & barley bake between the three of us. We would probably have eaten more if there had been more. Definitely an absentee cooking success!

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📖 Recipe

Mushroom, spinach & barley bake

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A warming vegetarian barley bake, packed with tasty spinach and mushrooms. The tomato & cheese topping makes it extra special.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Vegetarian

Servings 2

Calories 602 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 125 g pearl barley
• 1-2 teaspoon vegetable stock powder (optional)
• 250 g spinach
• 2 small onions (or 1 medium onion)
• 100 g mushrooms
• 2-3 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 150 g cherry tomatoes
• 55 g grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

 

• 125 g (⅝ cups) pearl barley, 1-2 tsp vegetable stock powder
  Place the barley and stock powder in a large pan with about 1.5l (6½-7 cups) water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until the barley is tender. Drain.
• 250 g (8 ⅚ oz) spinach, 2 small onions, 100 g (3 ½ oz) mushrooms
  While the barley is cooking, remove the stems from the spinach and wash and shred the leaves. Peel and slice the onions. Quarter or halve the mushrooms.
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil, ½ tsp dried thyme, ½ tsp ground black pepper
  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Cook the onions for a few minutes to soften, then add the mushrooms and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the spinach by handfuls and allow to wilt before stirring in and adding more. Season with the thyme and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• 2 eggs
  Add the vegetable mixture to the barley in a large bowl, and stir in the eggs. Pour into a baking dish and level the top.
• 150 g (5 2/7 oz) cherry tomatoes, 55 g (½ cups) grated cheddar cheese
  Cut the tomatoes into quarters and arrange over the top of the barley mixture, then sprinkle over the cheese. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35 minutes until hot throughout, golden and crispy.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Mushroom, spinach & barley bake

Amount per Serving

Calories

602

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

29

g

45

%

Saturated Fat

 

9

g

56

%

Trans Fat

 

0.01

g

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

3

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

14

g

Cholesterol

 

191

mg

64

%

Sodium

 

361

mg

16

%

Potassium

 

1388

mg

40

%

Carbohydrates

 

66

g

22

%

Fiber

 

15

g

63

%

Sugar

 

7

g

8

%

Protein

 

25

g

50

%

Vitamin A

 

12629

IU

253

%

Vitamin C

 

59

mg

72

%

Calcium

 

394

mg

39

%

Iron

 

7

mg

39

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword barley, cheese, mushrooms, spinach

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Delicious barley recipes

If you love barley, you’ll also enjoy

• luscious butter-braised carrots with garlic and barley
• delicious roasted vegetable and barley salad
• hearty baked barley risotto with butternut squash
• comforting miso mushroom barley soup

With spinach, mushrooms, onion and cherry tomatoes, this surely deserves a place in Extra Veg, hosted by Michelle at Utterly Scrummy and co-organised by Helen at  Fuss Free Flavours.
I’m also entering it into this month’s Family Foodies, organised by Eat Your Veg and Bangers & Mash, which is looking for “healthier child-friendly recipes”.