Recipe of the Month: Mushroom Ragout

This is one of our favourite go to recipes. It is simple, delicious and can be kept for a couple of days. It can be used as a vegan/ vegetarian main dish, or as a side dish to meat or fish. We often serve it on top of Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach and rice dish – recipe coming soon) with some finely diced cherry tomatoes.

This recipe makes about 6-8 servings.

TIME 1 hour 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 30g Dried Mushrooms (We usually try and find Porcini)

• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 2 Shallots or ½ a Medium Onion, finely chopped

• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced

• 500g White or Cremini Mushrooms, washed, and quartered

• 500g Wild Mushrooms – the bigger the mix the better. Trim and brush clean, quarter or tear into smaller pieces.

• Salt to taste

• 2 tsp All- Purpose Flour

• 125 ml Dry White Wine

• 2 tsp Fresh Rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)

• 2 tsp Fresh Thyme

• Freshly Ground Pepper

• Flat Leaf Parsley

PREPARATION

1. Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour 2 cups boiling water over them. Let soak 30 minutes, in the meantime you can prepare the other ingredients.

2. Place a strainer over a bowl, line it with cheesecloth or paper towels, and drain the mushrooms. Keep the liquid. Squeeze the mushrooms over the strainer and rinse until they are completely free of sand. Chop coarsely.

3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan and add the shallots or onion. Cook, stirring often, until browned and tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, stir for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add the fresh mushrooms, rosemary and thyme, and turn up the heat slightly. Cook until the mushrooms begin to sweat, then add a generous pinch of salt. Stir for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat as the mushrooms continue to soften and sweat. Add the flour and continue to cook the mushrooms, stirring, until they have softened a little more and you can no longer see the flour, about 2 minutes. Add the reconstituted dried mushrooms and the wine and turn the heat to high. Cook, stirring, until the liquid boils down and glazes the mushrooms, about 5 minutes. Stir in the dried mushroom soaking liquid, bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the mushrooms are thoroughly tender and fragrant, and the surrounding broth is thick, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in some freshly ground pepper and the parsley, taste and adjust salt.