Trying to keep a healthy and gluten free diet for a period of time, the Odd Fork cooked many times with quinoa, buckwheat and several superfood grains, it hadn't tried millet though. When it came across a small pack of millet in a food store one day, it decided to give it a try. The buy was successful, as millet was cheaper than quinoa, easier and faster to cook and its taste was mild and pleasant, almost like couscous or rice. 

The Odd Fork added millet in vegetable soups, prepared a millet tabbouleh salad, made a delicious veal millet stew and the last -at least for now- dish is this one. Of course, it is the most creative and the most yummy!

Ingredients:

For the millet "pastry":

- 1 cup uncooked millet

- a small onion, finely chopped

- half a bunch of fresh parsley

- 1 Tbsp of olive oil

- 1/3 tsp turmeric (powder)

- a pinch of dried ginger (powder)

- a pinch of nutmeg (powder)

- salt

- 250 grams smoked yellow cheese of choice, grated (optional)

For the mushroom stuffing:

- a medium onion, finely chopped

- a clove of garlic, finely chopped

- 1 Tbsp of olive oil

- a big, green pepper cut in small squares
- a pack of small white fresh mushrooms, cleaned and cut in small squares
- the remaining half bunch of fresh parsley
- a small sachet of dried mushrooms (porcini or anything you like)
- a glass of Greek Mavrodaphne or a similar sweet, red wine
- 2 to 3 Tbsps of tomato paste
- 2 to 3 whole cloves
- some whole grains of allspice
- some dried, ground thyme
- a bay leaf
- 2/3 tsp smoked paprika and a pinch of hot paprika
- salt, black pepper
- a can of red kidney beans (optional)

For the millet "pastry", just sauté onion in olive oil, add the parsley stems very finely chopped and add water (about 2 to 3 cups, twice the amount of millet). Add spices and salt and when it comes to a boil add millet, cover  the pot and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until millet is tender. Then uncover the pot, add fresh parsley leaves chopped, increase the heat and let millet absorb the liquids, stirring often and carefully with a wooden spatula. Remove from heat when the mixture has the texture of a really thick porridge. Let it cool (when cooler, it will thicken more) for some time and add cheese (keeping though some of the cheese aside). For a vegan option, skip the cheese -the millet porridge will still be aromatic and tasty!
For the mushroom stuffing, add olive oil in a pot and again sauté onion and garlic. After a while add pepper, parsley stems very finely chopped, fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms soaked in Mavrodaphne -add Mavrodaphne also. Add tomato paste, a big glass of water, salt and all the spices. Cover the pot and cook over medium to low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Uncover the pot, increase the heat and let liquids evaporate. A couple of minutes before removing pot from the stove, add fresh parsley leaves chopped and beans drained from the can and very well washed. Set it aside and let it cool.

Preheat oven to 180* C (350* F) Fan. Grease with olive oil a medium rectangular casserole and evenly spread half the millet porridge onto the bottom. Place the cool mushroom stuffing over the millet base and cover it carefully with the remaining millet mixture. Spread the surface of the pie with the remaining cheese (if using) and bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown and cheese melts.



The pie is better to be cut at least half an hour later. The combination of aromatic herbs and mushrooms has a taste similar to minced meat sauce and the Odd Fork remembered the traditional Greek Moussaka!
Millet pie turned out to be fantastic and it is a very good reason to reduce the meat intake! Besides, with a creative and hearty pie like this, who needs a steak?