A delicious adapted vegetarian version of Test Kitchen, and inspired by one of France’s most famous dishes “Boeuf Bourguignon” Mushrooms covered in a delectable sauce with all the original ingredients with exception of the beef.
Serves: 8
Total time: 1 hour 30 min
Ingredients:
½ cup olive oil
2.2 kg/5 lbs. mushrooms divided into half portobellos & half cremini’s (stems removed)
190 gr/1¼ cup pearl onions (skin removed) (*See notes below*)
30 gr/¼ cup flour
950 ml/ 4 cups vegetable stock
15gr/ 2 tablespoons agar-agar (*see notes below*)
1X 750 ml bottle of good red wine (I recommend Pinot noir)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon anchovy paste.
2 yellow onions, diced.
2 medium carrots peeled & sliced.
1 garlic head, unpeeled & top removed
28 gr/1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
12 sprigs of fresh flat leaf parsley
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley.
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 fresh bay leaves (or store bought)
10 black peppercorns
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Preparation:
Over medium-high heat add 3 tbsp olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot.
Add half of the mushrooms and half of the pearl onions to the pot with ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Cover the pot and cook for about 8 minutes or until the mushrooms have released their liquid. Check the mushrooms from time to time and stir occasionally to make sure they do not stick to the bottom.
Uncover and continue to cook until mushrooms are nice and tender – about 15 minutes.
When done, transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl and set aside.
Repeat the same with the remaining mushrooms, pearl onions and seasoning, transfer to the bowl with the first batch of mushrooms and set aside.
Add remaining 2 tbsp olive oil and flour to the empty pot and whisk the flour and oil well.
Carefully pour in the vegetable broth, the wine, the dissolved agar-agar, and all remaining ingredients
Bring to the boil and cook while stirring occasionally until the liquid has somewhat thickened and onions translucent – about 12-15 minutes.
When finished, pass the liquid through a sieve set over a large bowl.
With a rubber spatula, press the solids to extract as much liquid as possible then discard solids.
Return liquid to the pot and stir in the remaining red wine.
Bring mixture back to the boil over medium-high heat while stirring occasionally until the sauce starts to thicken (about 5-7 minutes)
Reduce heat to medium-low and add the mushroom-onion mixture and cook until heated through (about 5 minutes)
Add minced parsley and serve over creamy polenta, pasta, or silky-smooth potato puree.
TIP: If you feel your sauce is too watery, there are ways to thicken the sauce without losing flavor. Add 1-2 tablespoons corn starch (maizena) It will keep your sauce from turning cloudy. Mix the cornstarch with equal parts of water to create a slurry and add it to pot and stir.
*NOTES*: Agar-agar is a plant-based gelatine extracted from seaweed. It is used as a vegetarian substitute for regular gelatine, which is made from animal collagen.
The difference between Agar-agar and gelatine is that it needs to boil first to set, while gelatine dissolves in warm water. Before you add agar-agar to your recipe, it will need to be dissolved in water and boiled as it will not dissolve when added directly to the food