I made this for Bonfire night and it was an all round winner. Thanks to Hugh FW as I think it was he who first coined the word 'stoup' - a nourishing and filling soup/stew big on flavour, and in this case super healthy too. As with all my recipes, feel free to tweak the ingredients - for example Marmite works wonderfully instead of the miso, and if you're a meat eater, Bovril gives this a special colour and depth. Use any lentils you have, just don't over cook them as they mush. Likewise, mushroom, veg or beef stock work fine, though bone broth would be ideal.
Ingredients:
6 dried shiitake mushrooms (optional)
1 onion, preferable red
2 cloves of garlic
1 punnet of chestnut mushrooms - 300-400g approx
1 heaped tsp of cornflour
750 pls hot stock
1 - 2 tbsps
1 tsp of miso paste - preferable dark - or Marmite (or Bovril!)
Black pepper
Chopped parsley to serve
Method
Wash the shiitake mushrooms the put in large mug and cover with boiling water; set aside
Chop the onion & garlic, slice the mushrooms chunkily
Warm up a couple of tbsps of olive oil in a heavyish pan on the stove
Add the onions and garlic, cook for 5 mins, then add the mushrooms; cook for another 8 m ins or so
Make up the hot stock (whether cubes, bouillon, bone broth etc)
Add the cornflour to the pan and mix thoroughly; wait til it starts to cook in the mushroom juices
Then add the stock little by little, staring all the time, as if you were making a sauce
When all the stock is added, check the seasoning and add black pepper, don't add salt til the end.
Remove the shiitake mushrooms from the mug, add the liquid to the pan, then slice the mushrooms, discarding the tough stalk; add them to the pan & mix
Lastly add your little lentils & leave the pit to simmer for a bout 25 mins on a low heat
If using miso, add this towards the end as you don't want to loose any goodness by boiling it; if using Marmite or Bovril add it at the same time as the lentils
Check the seasoning at the end, you can also add a splash or Worcester Sauce for a bit of kick.
Serve with a generous sprinkle of fresh parsley, nutritional yeast, and black pepper.
ENJOY!!
Nutrition notes: Mushrooms are a good source of vegan protein as well as crucial vitamin B12; lentils are hormone balancing, blood sugar balancing, high in fibre that's great from your gut and absorb flavours really well. Miso is a fermented soy bean paste that is a good source of phyto-osetrogens - hugely helpful in the management of peri-menopause symptoms. This dish is an all round winner!