This is one of my favorite vegetarian recipes…. Field Mushrooms with Lentils in Red Wine sauce.
If you are keen to use ingredients that can be stored for extended time. This pretty much ticks all the boxes. Whether you are a prepper, a homesteader or just like to live frugally…
Potatoes can be stored easily and last a long time, plus are super easy to grow. Lentils can be stored in bulk and cooked as needed. Wine of course only gets better if its stored for a while but you can also leave out the red wine (but who’d want to!!) All of the other ingredients can be bought in bulk and stored or grown easily.
Its a little fiddly as there’s a few more processes than I would normally do for a simple evening meal, but its great to have in reserve for those fussy meat eating guests, or if you just want to be able to use high protein foods with long storage capacity. I some times make it without the extra sauce, just as yummy and not so fiddly.
- 4 large field mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
- 1 clove garlic, finely diced
- 200 grams lentils, cooked in advance (tinned can be used if needed)
- 185mls red wine
- 440 mls vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
- 1 large potato, peeled and cut into wedges
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 400grams of cannellini beans cooked and drained
- 2 large garlic cloves finely chopped
- ½ vegetable stock cube or 1 tablespoons vegetable stock
- 170mls red wine**
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 375 mls vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and chop. Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion over medium heat for 2 – 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and mushroom stalks and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the lentils, wine and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 – 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until reduced and the lentils are cooked through. If the mixture is too wet, remove the lid and boil until slightly thick. The parsley and keep warm.
- To make the bean puree, bring a small saucepan of water to the boil over high heat and cook the potato until tender approx 8 minutes. Drain and mash with a potato masher or fork until smooth. Stir in the extra virgin olive oil. Combine the cannellini beans and garlic in a food processor bowl. Add the stock and the remaining oil and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the mashed potato. Keep warm.
- Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in frying pan. Add the mushrooms and extra garlic and cook in batches over medium heat for 4 minutes each side, or until tender, Remove and keep warm.
- To make the red wine sauce, add the red wine to the same frying pan, then scrape the bottom to remove any sediment. Add the combined tomato paste, stock, sugar and balsamic vinegar and bring to the boil. Cook for 10 minutes or until reduced and thickened.
- To assemble, place the mushrooms onto warmed dinner plates and top with bean/potato puree. Spoon on the lentil mixture and drizzle with the red wine sauce. Season with parsley and freshly ground pepper and serve immediately. This dish is great when served with lightly steamed broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
- Enjoy…
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