Mushroom & Chard Risotto

I love mushrooms anytime and in a risotto they are particularly delicious.  Thank you to my mother-in-law for the fresh chard that came straight from her garden. :)

Ingredients

Butter
400g brown mushrooms - quartered
1 bunch spring onions - sliced
250g Carnaroli rice
750ml chicken stock (approx)
1 large handful chard - roughly chopped
Parmesan - grated
Lemon


Melt a knob of butter in a large pan.  Throw in the mushrooms and spring onions.  Stir until the mushrooms start to lose their juices.

Add the rice and stir well, until each grain is well coated.

Normally I would add a glug of white wine at this stage, but I only had a glass left and was enjoying it too much. :)

Pour in the stock.  Stir and bring to the boil.  Pop the lid on and reduce to simmer.  Stir every now and then, until liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender - approx. 30 minutes or so.

Add the chard and stir until it just starts to wilt.

Grate some parmesan over and stir in.  Squeeze some lemon juice over and stir.  Season to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

Caryl ♥

Linguine with Courgettes & Mushrooms

When you need to use up your veggie box quickly, this is a really tasty and easy meal to throw together.

Olive Oil
Garlic Cloves (I used about 6 because we love garlic!)
1 x large onion, sliced
3 x large courgettes (zucchini), halved lengthways, then sliced thinly across
1 x large punnet brown mushrooms (approx 400g), sliced thinly
Pine Nuts (kernels)
Parmesan cheese, grated


Fry the garlic and onions in a large pan, with a little olive oil, until starting to brown.  Add the courgettes and continue stirring until they soften.  Add the mushrooms and stir until they just start to release their juices, then pop the lid on the pan.

Let the veggies cook while you go check the last of your emails for the day and finish putting away whatever's left of the In Caryl's Kitchen: Blueberry Chia Seed Muffins you made earlier.

Check the veggies and give them a good stir.  There should be a good amount of the juices in the pan and the veggies will be soft.  Throw in what's left of the packet of pine kernels and pour the mixture over cooked linguine (or any pasta of choice).

Serve with grated parmesan cheese over the top.  You can, of course, add any extra seasonings, but we like this one really simple!

Enjoy!

Caryl ♥

Bolognese Sauce

While I don't like to eat a lot of red meat, what I do like is a good bolognese sauce.  I do a nice vegetarian style one with lentils, but tonight was a a good night for a meaty-mushroom style one.

Ingredients

Olive Oil
1 x large onion, chopped
4 x cloves garlic, crushed
2 x sticks celery, finely sliced
1 x large carrot, finely diced
6 x rashers smokey bacon, chopped
500g x lean beef mince
Plain flour
400g (approx.) large brown mushrooms, roughly chopped
Sherry
400g can chopped tomatoes
1-1/2 (approx. ) cups beef stock
Tomato puree
Dried oregano
Bay leaves


Fry the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and bacon in a large pan until the veggies are tender and the bacon is nicely cooked.

Add the beef mince and a good shake (approx. 1 large tablespoon) of flour.  Stir well and cook (still stirring) until the beef has browned.

Throw in the mushrooms and continue to stir through until they start to release their juices.  Pour in a large dash of sherry and stir well, scraping up the stickiness from the bottom of the pan.

Pour in the tomatoes and beef stock.  (I used an organic stock cube this time, because I'd run out of home-made stock).  Stir well and add a good squeeze of tomato puree, a good shake of oregano and a couple of bay leaves.

Bring to the boil, then turn down to simmer and cover the pan with a lid.

Leave it to simmer and thicken, while going to pick up your daughter from ballet, after asking your sons to check it and give it an occasional stir while you're out.

When you get back, give it another stir, scraping up the bits at the bottom of the pan again because your sons didn't stir it for you while you were out!

Adjust the seasoning and pour sauce over your cooked pasta of choice.  Add parmesan shavings and enjoy!

If there is any over, this is really nice on toast (although that's only ever happened once before in this house)! :)

Cheers,
Caryl ♥