IN SEASON
MUSHROOM RAGOUT WITH SOFT POLENTA
This is very easy to put together, and pretty quick too. Use a mix of well-fl avoured mushrooms, such as chestnut, portabellini and big, fl at, dark- gilled varieties, adding wild or exotic mushrooms if you have some to hand.
FOR THE POLENTA: 400ml milk 1 bay leaf A sprig of thyme A few peppercorns Half an onion and/or 2 garlic cloves, bashed
SERVES 4
150g quick-cook polenta 20g butter 1 tsp fi nely chopped rosemary 20g Parmesan, hard goat’s cheese or other well-fl avoured hard cheese, fi nely grated
FOR THE RAGOUT: 2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil A large knob of butter 650g mushrooms, thickly sliced 1 large garlic clove, fi nely chopped A few sprigs of thyme, leaves only,
chopped 150ml red wine 150ml vegetable or mushroom stock Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
TO SERVE (OPTIONAL): A trickle of top-notch olive oil Extra Parmesan or other hard cheese, shaved 1 For the polenta, put the milk and 400ml water into a saucepan. Add the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and onion/ garlic. Bring to just below the boil, then set aside to infuse for 20 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, make the ragout. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and half the butter in a large, wide frying pan over a medium heat. Add half the mushrooms and some salt and pepper and turn the heat up high. Cook, stirring often, to encourage the mushrooms to release their juices. Continue to cook until most of the juices have evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to concentrate and caramelise. 3 Add half the garlic and thyme and cook for a minute more, then tip the contents of the pan out on to a plate and set aside.
4 Repeat with the remaining mushrooms, using the rest of the garlic and thyme. Return the fi rst batch of mushrooms to the pan. Add the wine and stock, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half. Check the seasoning.
5 To cook the polenta, strain the infused milk and water into a clean pan (or just scoop out the fl avourings with a slotted spoon). Bring to a simmer, then pour in the polenta in a thin stream, stirring as you do so. Stir until the mix is smooth and then it let it return to a simmer.
6 Cook for just 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, rosemary and cheese, then season generously with salt and pepper (adding at least a quarter of a tsp of salt).
7 Immediately scoop the polenta into warmed dishes, top with the juicy mushroom ragout and serve, with an extra trickle of best olive oil and a few slivers of shaved cheese, if you like.
“River Cottage Veg Every Day”, published by Bloomsbury
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