Roasted Mushroom, Peperoncini and Barley Salad
Despite the fact that I have put quite a few salads on here, I wouldn’t describe myself as a salad gal. To be frank, I am often just too lazy to make the kind of salad I want to eat. Which would be one filled with many vegetables plus something creamy, fatty, pickled, and crunchy.
This salad has a few of those things and is only a 2.5 on the 1-10 effect scale, which is what I am looking for most of the time. Inspiration from this came making Ali Slagle’s Sausage and Gnocchi from her super smart book I Dream of Dinner. Maybe you are thinking ‘Olivia – but there is no sausage or gnocchi in this recipe?’ and you would be 100% correct. But she topped that dish with an arugula salad with a dressing made from the pepper brine and it was SO GOOD. There is something about that combination of peppery arugula with the tangy and acidic peppers that really just does it for me, and I hope it does it for you too.
Prep?
You could clean the mushrooms in advance, but I wouldn’t sweat it. This recipe comes together so quick I would just do it all at once.
Equipment
- Baking Dish
- Microplane/Cheese Grater
- Butting Board
- Measuring Spoons
4
servingsIngredients
1lb (454g) Mixed Mushrooms
2-3 Sprigs of Thyme
4 Shallots
Olive Oil
250g Quick Cooking Barley
4 Cups (1L) Mushroom Stock
2 Cloves Garlic
0.5 oz (14g) Dried Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Peperoncini Peppers, Thinly Sliced
1/2 Cup Hard Cheese (Such as Parmesan, Grana Padano, or Asiago)
5oz (141g or 5 Cups) Arugula
Pepper
Salt
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 425F.
Meanwhile clean your mushrooms by brushing away any dirt with a dry cloth, the trim the ends and tear into bite sized pieces.
Peel your shallots, trim the ends and halve lengthwise.
Line your baking dish with parchment paper and add the mushrooms, shallots, thyme then drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.
Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the mushrooms and shallots are tender and golden. - Meanwhile bring your mushroom stock to a boil in a medium pot and heavily season with salt as if you were cooking pasta.
While you wait for the water to boil finely chop the garlic.
When then water has reached a boil add the garlic, barley, and dried mushrooms and cook until the barley is tender, about 12 minutes then drain and reserve. - Complete remaining prep by slicing the peppers into 1/4″ rings and grating the cheese.
In a large bowl mix one tablespoon of the brine from the peppers with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Add the arugula and half of the grated cheese then toss to combine. - When the mushrooms are done cooking remove the sprigs of time and stir in the cooked barley and sliced peppers then taste for seasoning.
Divide into bowls and top with the arugula salad, remaining cheese and black pepper.
