• Serves 8 • Prep time 30 mins • Cook time 1hr
This dish is a Maitreya winter menu classic and is back by popular demand each year. This recipe is for a good dinner party sized batch as this is a slow cook process it’s worth making plenty. A great way to enjoy this is with some roast potatoes and greens or even just with some good crusty bread.
Ingredients
- 1.5kg Banana shallots peeled
- 100ml balsamic vinegar
- 3 dessert spoon raw cane sugar
- 1 large onion
- ½ bunch celery
- Bulb of garlic
- 50g dried mixed wild mushrooms
- ½ bottle red wine
- lLrge sprig Thyme
- Large sprig Rosemary
- 2 dessert spoon Tomato paste
- 700g Chestnut mushrooms
- 400g cooked and peeled chestnuts
- 500ml veg stock
Method
Put shallots, balsamic, sugar with a little oil and salt in a deep oven dish. Toss ingredients to coat shallots then roast under foil at 190C until very soft (approx 45 mins).
- Dice the onion, celery and garlic. Pick and finely chop the rosemary and thyme. Put all these ingredients in a large pot and sweat over a low heat with a little oil, salt and pepper.
- Cover the dried mushrooms in with the red wine to rehydrate them.
- Once onions are soft drain the wine from the mushrooms into the onion mix.
- Roughly chop the rehydrated mushrooms and add these also.
- Quarter and sauté the chestnut mushrooms in small batches over a high heat and add them to the pot with the tomato paste.
- Roughly chop the chestnuts and add them with the roasted shallots to the pot then add the stock and simmer for at least 30mins.
- Check the seasoning then serve either as it is or cover the top with good aged cheddar and grill.
