I made this pie with a few changes. I used a frozen deep dish pie crust with no top, cooked pearl barley instead of wheat berries and added roasted pine nuts to the mix. I also cooked it a little longer than the recipe calls for. It turned out great! Even my italian mother-in-law loved it. Now I can bring the Easter Pie to family gatherings with confidence!

I am also one who did not have a recipe for this dish I grew up with. Last Easter, I wanted to make it for my friends and I stumbled upon this recipe, which may even be better then my grandmother's. *shhh* The chewy whole wheatberries are a great touch. I also left out the candied fruit...after a lifetime of picking it out, I was not about to put it in my own pie! It was a big hit last year, and everyone is looking forward to it again at Easter brunch!

So nice that someone thought to share this recipe. A very traditional pie at Easter. My family makes this recipe also, but we also add in Pepperoni (chopped) and freshly ground black pepper. Gives it a great flavor. Every family has variations to this recipe because it was considered a "poor man's pie" many years ago. People used whatever they had on hand in the house or whatever they could afford. I've found that no matter how many different versions of meat,this is a wonderful pie and a great tribute to our Italian ancestors. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. P.S. My Mom always makes her's using a homemade "bread" instead of pie crust. Two layers of the bread dough as substitution for the pie crust. A little bit more work as it is a yeast dough and does have to rise (just once). I personally like the pie crust version. (and it is a lot easier too)

I was delighted to find this recipe, which my great Aunt used to make for the whole family every Easter. I made it without the candied fruit and it turned out wonderfully. Now everyone asks me about the grain pie each year. ^.^

My stepdad always longs for Grain Pie for Easter but the high prices and long lines from the stores made me search for an option. This recipe was a great choice. He loved the pie and especially that I made it myself!

My sister and I thought we lost my grandmother's recipe when she died only to find it here. I did not add the candied fruit and baked it in a larger spring form pan for 1 hr. It was perfect!

This is really an excellent recipe. I used a 9" deep dish pan, and it was the perfect amount.