Layered squash, barley & spinach pie

Layered squash, barley & spinach pie

A spectacular veggie Christmas centrepiece - when sliced, it looks stunning, and the flavours go brilliantly with all your favourite trimmings

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 4 - 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs 40 mins

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Method

  1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and roast the butternut squash with 1 tbsp oil for 25-30 mins until tender, then set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large pan and cook the onions and garlic for 10 mins until soft. Remove two-thirds, then add the mushrooms, chestnuts and pearl barley to the pan. Sizzle for a few mins, pour in the stock, then bring to the boil. Bubble fiercely for 30 mins until the barley is tender and sticky and there is no liquid left. Stir in the soy sauce, season and set aside.
  3. While the barley layer is cooking, make the other layers. Stir the zest, ricotta, soft cheese and a good amount of seasoning into the reserved onions until smooth. Take a third of the mixture and gently fold with the sage and roasted squash. For the final layer, boil the kettle, then tip half the spinach into a large colander. Pour over the boiling water to wilt, then repeat with the rest of the spinach. Tip the spinach onto a clean tea towel and squeeze out all the moisture you can. Roughly chop, then mix into the remaining ricotta mixture with the parsley.
  4. To make the pie, brush a 900g loaf tin with a little oil. Make 3 long triplelayer strips of foil and lay these across the width of the tin to help you lift out the pie to serve. Tip flour and 3 tsp salt into the largest bowl you have and gently melt the butter, shortening and milk with 200ml water in a pan. Once melted, increase heat until bubbling fiercely, tip onto the flour, then quickly beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Don't worry if some powdery bits remain. Once cool enough to handle, knead until it comes together, then tip onto your work surface. Set aside a third and roll the rest into a large rectangle - big enough to line the tin with a little overhanging.
  5. Ease into the tin, pressing evenly into the corners and sides - you can be rough with it. Spoon in the spinach layer, smooth the surface, then repeat with the barley and finally the squash layer. Dome the squash mix slightly to give a rounded top. Roll out the remaining pastry to fit, brush the edges with some egg, then press the lid over the top. Trim the excess and crimp or pinch to seal, then decorate with pastry trimmings cut into leaves (add bay leaves, if using, when the pie has 30 mins left in the oven). Can be covered and chilled overnight.
  6. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and put a large baking sheet inside. Brush the surface of the pie with egg, lift onto the heated baking tray and bake for 30 mins, then reduce the heat to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and bake for a further 1 hr 30 mins until the pastry is golden brown and feels hard. Stand for 15-20 mins while you get the rest of the meal ready - the pie will stay warm. Gently tip out the pie, or use the foil strips to lift out carefully. Carry to the table and slice thickly to serve.

PER SERVING (8)

889 kcalories, protein 19g, carbohydrate 99g, fat 49 g, saturated fat 24g, fibre 0g, sugar 13g, salt 1.31 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2008.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-40

  • Binder photo Laurajallen

    07 February 2011

    Laurajallen rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Very time consuming, but oh so tasty :)

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  • Binder photo KellyeSue

    26 May 2011

    KellyeSue rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This recipe is actually pretty involved, but by god, is it worth the effort. Did it as my veggie Xmas main, amazingly delicious.

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  • Binder photo bess190

    04 December 2011

    bess190 commented on this recipe

    This is a great pie, though very heavy! Also i found that the quantities here are totally off for the pastry- there is almost enough for two pies. It would be helpful to have the thickness of the pasrty stated. Thanks.

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  • Binder photo Lynn

    22 December 2011

    Lynn commented on this recipe

    I made this last year for Christmas dinner, it was such a success I have had requests to repeat it. I did end up with 2 loaf tins (my tins weren't huge) of pie which wasn't a bad thing as it is super yummy a day after. Really good flavour combinations and the lemon gives a really fresh kick to the dish. Lovely.

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  • Binder photo staffordfatboy

    24 December 2011

    staffordfatboy rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    Always worrying when someone cannot even get something as basic as the ingredient quantities right. I have just made this for Xmas and had enough to do two pies. I used the correct size of tin so not that. We cannot eat two of them so half the ingredients went in the bin. It looks yummy but I will check the reviews before I try another recipe from this site.

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  • Binder photo Loulou

    03 January 2012

    Loulou rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made this as the veggie option for myself and one other veggie for a family roast dinner. It went really well with all the roast trimmings and everyone (including the meat eaters) really enjoyed it. I cheated and used shop-bought shortcrust pastry and this worked fine. I had a little bit of the filling ingredients leftover, but not much at all (enough for a taste to check it was all OK!). I found it easy to make, it's just takes time and creates a lot of washing up because you have to make all the different layers in separate stages. I thought using ready made pastry would reduce the preparation time and I'm glad I did this. But I would definitely make it again... and was asked for the recipe by everyone who tried it.

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  • Binder photo Nickynodates

    03 January 2012

    Nickynodates rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this for my (vegetarian) sister's Christmas dinner. It was a bit fiddly and took a while to prepare but more than worth it. It actually made enough for 2 pies so was a welcome addition to a Christmas Eve buffet lunch. The pastry was superb, really easy and the nicest I have ever cooked, I will use the pastry recipe in any savoury pies in the future, lovely light and crisp

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  • Binder photo Clancarr

    16 January 2012

    Clancarr commented on this recipe

    I made this pie for a vegetarian friend on Christmas. It took longer to make and cook than the turkey but was so worth it! Carnivores in the family enjoyed it also. This recipe will stay as part of our Christmas menu for sure.

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  • Binder photo Mrs Zara Guevara

    14 May 2012

    Mrs Zara Guevara rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made this for Christmas 2011 and it was a hit with my partner and the rest of my family. I cheated and used the pastry from the supermarket and I was left a little short but it was tasty regardless. Next time I make it, the preparation shouldn't take too long. Thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fairly long winded and I did have to re-read most of the directions. Would love if a video of all the recipes were included as well.

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  • Binder photo HolyDiver

    07 October 2012

    HolyDiver commented on this recipe

    I make this every year for our Xmas dinner, since about half of my family are vegetarian. It's great! It takes a bit of effort to make, but it's definitely worth it. Looks gorgeous too. :D

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  • Binder photo Siouxsie

    25 November 2012

    Siouxsie commented on this recipe

    I turned these into individual pies using shop bought shortcrust, as my pastry is only good for building extensions. A bit of a faff to make but tasted good enough. Used fine lemon zest rather than juice (see why below) and chucked in a handful of pine nuts and twice as much parsley. I may use bulgar wheat next time instead of barley. Check your ricotta tub. It may not be veggie-friendly. I made my own cottage cheese with soy milk and lemon juice... Hmm. Maybe I'll use Philly next time!

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  • Binder photo martin

    25 December 2012

    martin rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    A lot of ingredients first time ever cooking something like this the presses is long but well worth it very filling and light filled the loaf tin perfect just cut the ingredients in half will do it again

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  • Binder photo Val

    25 December 2012

    Val commented on this recipe

    Very sucessful Christmas dinner today! Went perfect with the "make ahead gravy" and a selection of roasted veg. I took the advise of previous comments and made half the quantity. Fitted nicely into my bread tin. Had enough for 4 generous portions. Also got frozen ready made pastry which cut down on some work. Will make again. Lovely.

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  • Binder photo Barbachef

    26 December 2012

    Barbachef commented on this recipe

    I didn't read the comments before attempting this. Yes, lots of dishes and preparation. The layers tasted good, managed to squeeze all into a standard loaf tin as I cut down on the spinach and butternut. I have put it in fridge to bake for family dinner tomorrow (includes one vegetarian), along with other dishes. So will see how it turns out and what they say. Took me nearly 4 hours to prepare, had to keep rereading the recipe. Very tiring and complicated. Have pastry left over. Don't know whether I will make it again, it's labour intensive.

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  • Binder photo CarlaB

    27 December 2012

    CarlaB commented on this recipe

    I made this for Christmas dinner. I left out the chestnuts as I couldn't find any and halved the salt in the pastry. It was quite a lengthy process but no more so than a lasagne really. It was a very popular choice at dinner, even among the meat eaters. I will definitely make it again, it was very flavorsome and well worth the effort.

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  • Binder photo Nessa

    04 January 2013

    Nessa rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was really tasty! I made it for a vegetarian this Christmas and it was a huge success. However... 1. It is not moderately easy - I'm pretty adept at following recipes but this was quite tricky. 2. the recommended tin size is far far too small - I ended up using a 7" square cake tin. 3. I would highly recommend cooking this the day before you need it - it's all very well saying do the veggies etc whilst the pie is cooking but it's much more hassle than a turkey! Totally worth the effort though and you'd get more than 8 servings out of it.

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  • Binder photo AnnieG

    03 February 2013

    AnnieG commented on this recipe

    I made this for Christmas dinner. I didn't find it that difficult to make and was very intrigued by the hot pastry mix. It looked amazing as it came out of the oven but sadly the sides couldn't cope with the weight of the pie so they collapsed. I think I may have taken it out a bit too early. I have to say that it tasted amazing though, will definitely give it another go. I really enjoyed making it.

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  • Binder photo Sam Belcher

    09 February 2013

    Sam Belcher rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Tried this as a special meal the other week. It wasn't too difficult to make but it did take all the time in the world, even longer than the 3 hrs 20 mins it claims! Nice, though.

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  • Binder photo cd

    12 March 2013

    cd rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This worked out amazing for me and I am still getting requests from the carnivore boyfriend to make it again! I used supermarket pastry to cut down on the prep time (and i guess resolved the saltyness issue that others experienced) and I roasted the squash/ made the mushroom/ barley mixture the night before so on the day i just had to mix, layer and combine. Strangely enough, I think the winning step to the really nice flavour of the pie was using quite a strong herb flavoured stock as the barley picked it up beautifully (I used the new gel type stock dissolving ones). As this had such an impact on flavour i would definitely not skimp by using powder/cubes! The only other tip i would suggest is not roasting the chestnuts yourself and pre-buying them if you can. It's a lot of effort for so little meat (plus the exploding factor). In all fairness next time i would prob leave that ingredient out as you could barely taste it. Good luck!

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  • Binder photo Onyte

    02 April 2013

    Onyte rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    Delicious and looks impressive, but takes quite a long time to make. Turned out very well, just like in the picture, with colourful layers.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 4 - 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs 40 mins

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Ingredients

FOR THE FILLING

  • 1 small butternut squash (about 1kg/2lb 4oz), peeled and cubed
  • 3 tbsp olive oil , plus a little extra for brushing
  • 3 onions , finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves , crushed
  • 100g mushrooms , sliced
  • 85g whole cooked chestnuts , quartered
  • 100g pearl barley
  • 1.2l vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • zest 1 lemon
  • 250g/9oz tub ricotta
  • 200g full-fat soft cheese
  • ½ x 20g/1oz pack sage , leaves picked and chopped
  • 400g baby spinach
  • 20g pack parsley , leaves chopped

FOR THE PASTRY

  • 700g plain flour
  • 140g butter
  • 85g/3oz white vegetable shortening (we used Trex)
  • 100ml milk
  • 1 egg , lightly beaten
  • few bay leaves (optional)
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PER SERVING (8)

889 kcalories, protein 19g, carbohydrate 99g, fat 49 g, saturated fat 24g, fibre 0g, sugar 13g, salt 1.31 g

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