Nordic Barley & Mushroom Skillet with Cracked Eggs
Nutty pearl barley and earthy autumn mushrooms in one warm skillet, finished with runny baked eggs and dill.
Best for Wholegrain fiber and plant-forward protein to steady a cold-weather morning
This is the brunch I make when the mornings turn cold and the forest floor smells of mushrooms. Chewy pearl barley gets toasted in the pan before it simmers, so every grain tastes of the skillet rather than plain porridge, and the mushrooms are browned hard until their edges go crisp and savory. Eggs are cracked straight into wells in the grain and baked until the whites set around jammy yolks. It's one pan, deeply Nordic, and it eats like a proper weekend meal that still leaves you feeling good.
Ingredients
- 200 g pearl barley , rinsed
- 400 g mixed fresh mushrooms , torn or sliced thick
- 4 large eggs , at room temperature
- 1 onion , finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 leek , white and pale green parts, sliced into half-moons
- 30 g Unsalted butter
- 30 ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil
- 550 ml vegetable stock
- 4 fresh thyme , sprigs, leaves stripped
- 15 g Fresh dill , roughly chopped, to finish
- 30 g toasted pumpkin seeds
- 1 lemon , zest and a squeeze of juice
- 1 fine sea salt , to taste
- 100 g crème fraîche or thick Greek yogurt , to serve (optional – can be omitted)
Instructions
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1
Heat half the rapeseed oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the rinsed barley and toast it dry-ish, stirring, until it smells nutty and looks a shade darker, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and leek with a pinch of salt and soften for 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic and thyme for 1 minute more.
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2
Pour in the hot vegetable stock, scrape the base, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover loosely and cook, stirring now and then, until the barley is tender with a little chew and most of the liquid is absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes. Add a splash more stock or water if it dries out before the grain is done. Meanwhile heat your oven to 200°C.
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3
While the barley simmers, get the mushrooms crisp: heat the remaining oil and the butter in a separate pan over medium-high heat, add the mushrooms in a single layer and leave them to brown undisturbed for 3 minutes before tossing. Cook until deeply golden and their edges crisp, 8 to 10 minutes total, seasoning with salt and pepper near the end.
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4
Fold three-quarters of the mushrooms through the cooked barley along with the lemon zest and a squeeze of juice; taste and adjust salt. Make four wells in the grain and crack an egg into each. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the whites are just set but the yolks stay runny, 8 to 10 minutes.
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5
Scatter over the reserved mushrooms, the dill, pumpkin seeds and a final grind of black pepper. Serve straight from the skillet with a spoon of crème fraîche or yogurt on the side.