Vegan Mushroom Bourguignon

• Soak the porcini mushrooms in 200ml boiling water and set aside for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, wash the portobello mushrooms to remove any dirt then cut them into 3cm chunks.
• Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the portobello mushrooms and stir to coat them in the oil. Let the mushrooms cook, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has been released. This will take 10 to 15 minutes.
• Optional step: to remove more liquid from the mushrooms and to give them a meatier texture they can be pressed using a flat bottomed potato masher.
• Once the mushrooms are cooked and all the liquid has cooked off reduce the heat to medium and add the butter. Wait until the butter has melted then add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onion is translucent, around 4 minutes. We don’t want any colour on the onion so if they are beginning to colour turn the heat down.
• Add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute. Now slowly sift the flour into the pan while stirring to incorporate the flour into the oil and butter. Cook the flour off for 1 minute.
• Next add the tomato paste, salt, cracked black pepper and the smoked paprika, stir to coat everything and continue to cook for a further 1 minute.
• Now add the herbs, carrot, wine and vegetable stock to the pan. The herbs can be added separately or they can be tied together into a bouquet garni.
• The porcini mushroom should also have been soaking for 15 minutes. These can also be added at this stage. The water the mushrooms were soaking in has great flavour and can also be added.
• Bring the pan to a boil then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes until the carrots are tender and the liquid has reduced by at least a half, cook for longer if the sauce is still quite thin as it should be thick.

Potatoes

• Scrub the baby potatoes and cut any large ones in half so they are all roughly the same size. Steam them until fork-tender, around 15 minutes. Once cooked set aside.

Button Mushrooms and Shallots

• Scrub then cut the button mushrooms in half. Peel the small shallots keeping the root intact. If they are larger than bit-sized then they can be cut in half down the root so both halves stay together.
• Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Once hot add the shallots and fry until the outer layer is translucent and is starting to turn golden brown, around 10 minutes. Once the shallots are cooked add the butter and wait until it’s melted before adding the button mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until tender, around 3 minutes. Once cooked set aside.

Assembly

• Once the sauce has thickened and the carrots are cooked. Add the shallots and button mushrooms along with the steamed potatoes. Stir to combine everything. Check for seasoning then serve.