Nutty Mushroom Variations (Vegetarian)

Member Name: Redhead23

Product:	Vegetarian
Date:	05/01/02 (165 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick, Tasty, Versatile

Disadvantages: None unless you don't like nuts, mushrooms, onions or garlic!

This is one of my many mushroom-based recipes, and it can be used as a vegetarian topping for breakfast toast as well as using it as a filling in pancakes or filo pastry, or even with pasta. The basic recipe is very simple and can be added to according to personal taste or depending on what the mixture is used for. I feel that the nutty flavour, mushrooms, garlic and onions go very well together and the nuts give this mixture a lovely crunch that is often missing from purely mushroom-based dishes.


Basic Recipe:

(Serves 2, preparation time 5 to 10 minutes, cooking time 10 minutes)

4-5 large breakfast mushrooms or
250 - 300g. mixed mushrooms (avoid Shiitake as they are a bit too dry for this recipe and do not turn out too well when fried)
1 medium-sized onion
2 cloves garlic (more if you like garlic a lot)
4-5 walnuts
1 tbsp. Walnut oil (olive or sunflower will do but walnut oil works best with mushrooms)
1/2 tbsp. Ketchup (optional)
Salt, pepper and herbs to taste

I usually use an Italian dried herb mixture but fresh herbs such as spring onion and parsley will always be nicer. Instead of salt I use Aromat, a Swiss seasoning mixture containing salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder and various other spices including turmeric. It is available from most supermarkets and I find it a lot more interesting in flavour than just plain salt, and also easier to use in cooking (in spite of the ghastly bright yellow colour of the grains) than vegetable stock cubes that can be hard to dissolve evenly when used in sauces.

Equipment needed:

Chopping board
Sharp kitchen knife
1 medium-sized bowl
Frying pan

Preparation:

Peel the onion and cut it into rings (or, if you do not like larger pieces, you may chop it into small ones although you have to be careful not to cut it too small or it gets burnt when you fry it), then chop the garlic into small cubes or press it in a g
arlic press. I always like a few slices of garlic in my food but not everyone shares this taste so only slice it if you REALLY like the stuff!

We have a fairly large chopping board (one of those wonderful glassy ones) so I usually just line all the ingredients on the board, but if you wish you can mix the onion and garlic in a small bowl and set them aside.

Then open the walnuts and crush them into small-ish chunks (again this depends on taste, just don't chop them too small or they could get burnt). Wipe the mushrooms with a household towel (never wash them!) and slice them into 1/2 cm. slices.

Cooking:

Heat the walnut oil in a frying pan on a medium flame and add the onion and garlic when the oil is hot enough, fry until glassy. Then add the crushed walnuts and fry them for about 2 minutes before adding the mushrooms. Add the salt, pepper and herbs and stir well.

Fry the mushrooms for around 5 minutes or until done (this depends on the amount of mushrooms used), then put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with the ketchup until all pieces are thinly covered. This is optional and not required when you use the mixture as a filling along with additional ingredients, but I feel it gives it a nice tang when using the mixture as a topping.


Ways to use it:

- (Healthy) Breakfast Option:

4 slices of toast
Margarine or butter
Dijonnaise (Mayonnaise and Dijon mustard mixed, ordinary mustard will do)

As mentioned above, the initial idea behind this creation was as a healthy (well, mushrooms and nuts are healthy, plus there's no cheese in it so it's not exactly loaded with fat either!) vegetarian breakfast topping. For this, toast 4 slices of bread (preferably wholemeal) and spread it with butter and dijonnaise, then spread the mixture (prepared as above, including the ketchup) on top while it is still hot.

Alternatively (this is the less healthy but even more
scrumptious breakfast option), put the topped bread slices on a baking tray and add a cereal bowl full of grated hard goats cheese or a few slices of mozzarella on top, then put them under the grill until the cheese is nice and brown.


- As a Filling or Pasta Topping

1 small bowl of feta or goats cheese (hard)
Ca. 100g leafy spinach (amount depends on what you use it for)
1/2 cup of pine nuts (optional, goes very well with the pasta though!)
Black olives to taste (optional)

When preparing the basic mixture, add the pine nuts with or instead of the walnuts and fry them as mentioned above and chop the onion into small pieces rather than rings, as this will make the mixture easier to spread.

Cook the spinach as per instructions (I'm usually very lazy so I use the frozen stuff that you cook with a little water) and then add it to the mixture and cook it for about 5 minutes in a medium-sized pan, stirring regularly until the spinach is well mixed in with the other ingredients.


If you prepare the mixture as a filling for pancakes, grate the cheese or break it into very small pieces, then mix it with the spinach and cook on a low flame until the cheese is well melted. Spread the (by now hopefully sticky and creamy with cheese) mixture generously on the pancakes (It goes best with thin, home-made crêpes) and roll them up.

If you like you can add a bit more grated cheese and then briefly put the rolled-up pancakes under a grill. Alternatively, set some of the mixture aside, put 4 rolled-up pancakes in a greased dish and spread the rest of the mixture on top of the pancakes, then top with more cheese and cook in the oven until the cheese is melted and brown.


As a pastry filling, chop the cheese into small cubes and mix it with the spinach and mushroom mixture in a bowl, then fill the pastry and cook in the oven according to the instructions. Adding a few finely chopped black olives wi
ll give this variation an additional Mediterranean tang.


For a pasta sauce, simply prepare a pesto-style (oil- and herb-based) sauce and add the mixture to it (I usually just add a little more oil to the mixture but I assume there are more professional ways of doing this ;-) ), add chopped olives if you like, then toss the freshly cooked pasta (preferably spaghetti) in the mixture to spread it evenly, top it with grated goats cheese or parmesan and serve. This version is particularly suitable for people who like a bit of pasta every now and again but are getting a bit fed up with eating tomato sauce all the time. Or for that matter also for people who are not particularly fond of tomatoes at all (my hubby) or do not like creamy sauces but still like to eat pasta with mushroom-based sauces.


There ya go - Enjoy!

(Disclaimer)

Admittedly, I have not consistently provided totally exact instructions, cooking times or amounts required - this is because I am quite impulsive when it comes to cooking so I often just chuck in what's left in the kitchen and don't always cook to a recipe. The amounts stated are therefore a rough guideline only and most ingredients can be added to taste and according to the purpose of the mixture. If you have any additional ideas, feel free to let me know.

I might expand this opinion at some point, since it seems you can only post one recipe suggestion per category. As a vegetarian, most of my recipes are meat- and fish-free, so unless I can fit them into a different category I will have to add them to this opinion!

(c) 2002, Redhead23

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