This vegan Mushroom Ragout is the perfect accompaniment to pasta or grilled tofu steaks. It's rich and creamy and full-bodied and will be adored-- I guarantee -- by herbivores and omnivores alike.
I made this mushroom ragout during our trip this past week to Ocean City, Maryland, a gorgeous beach that's just a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Washington, D.C.. We had rented a condo close to the beach and it had a great kitchen so I could do what I love best -- relax by cooking some good food. Desi and I grew up close to the sea -- he in Madras, me in Bombay -- and we both have great memories of spending our childhoods at the beach with family and friends. But although Jay lived in Bombay all his life before he came to us, he had never actually seen the sea, which is really ironic because you are never really more than a few miles from the sea anywhere in the city.
It was an amazing experience to see the wonder in his face as he stood in the ocean, holding our hands tight, letting the unpredictable waves lash at his legs. But even more than the sea, he was looking forward to the sand, and making castles in it with his brand new tools. Since he doesn't like doing anything by himself, and he makes friends easily, he soon found a family making a gorgeous sand castle who let him join in. He then wandered around the shoreline looking for sea shells they could decorate the castle with.
Opie traveled with us to Ocean City because, at 13, he is now too old for us to feel very comfortable about leaving him in daycare or even with a housesitter. He needs to get his medications on time each day, and he gets really unhappy and nervous when he doesn't have us around. Although he wasn't allowed on the beach, he did have a good time napping in the condo (he loved the cool, tiled kitchen floor) and taking slow walks around the parking lot.
On to the Mushroom Ragout, which will, seriously, blow your mind. I love the creamy velvet sauce and the meaty bite of the mushrooms with pasta, but this sauce is so versatile you could serve it over almost anything. I love making this with a variety of mushrooms because I love all of those textures, but you can definitely go with just one kind. I used four: crimini, button, enoki and portobello mushrooms.
I know there are many out there who detest mushrooms, but there are some very good reasons why this humble little fungus is considered a superfood and is worth trying. It has potent anti-cancer properties, is chock-full of Vitamin D which is a difficult nutrient to come by in a vegan diet, and is good for your heart. Big bonus, there are many, many varieties of mushroom and each of them is uber-tasty. As you can tell, I have been in love with mushrooms for as long as I can remember and I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would reject them.
Here's the recipe. Au revoir!
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Vegam Mushroom Ragout
Ingredients
- 5 cups mushrooms (use any kind or a variety. Chop before using)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 shallots (minced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 6 large leaves basil (cut into ribbons)
- ½ cup red wine
- ¼ cup cashews (soaked and blended into a smooth "cream" with 1 cup water)
- 2 tbsp soy sauc (or tamari)
- 2 tbsp parsley (chopped)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil.
- Add the shallots and garlic and saute until softened and translucent, about five minutes on medium-low heat. Add some salt and ground black pepper as the shallots cook.
- Add the mushrooms and turn the heat to medium-high. Let the mushrooms express all their liquid and let the liquid evaporate.
- Turn off the heat, add the red wine, then turn the heat back on.
- Let the mushrooms cook in the wine until the wine has mostly evaporated. Add the soy sauce or tamari.
- Add 1 cup of water and stir to mix. Bring the sauce to a boil and let it cook 10 minutes.
- Add the basil leaves and the cashew cream. Stir well and let the sauce warm through until it just simmers.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with parsley.
- Serve hot.
This is SO delicious! I wonder how it would freeze. Has anyone tried cooking up a big batch and freezing?
Hi Cherie, I think it would freeze well, although I haven't tried to.
Absolutely delicious! I'm going to make this often.
Ana, so glad you liked it!
We had this on new years eve. It was delicious!
This looks great! For how long do you typically soak cashews? And do you use the same water they were soaked in for making paste or different? Never used this before!
Soak the cashews for 30 minutes, no more. And yes, do discard the water, rinse the cashews, and add more water to blend.
Thanks so much!
Is there something else I can use to substitute for the cashew cream? I typically don't like mushrooms but this recipe is enticing enough for me to give them another shot!
Hi Sabitha, sorry I missed your question earlier. Can you use another nut paste, like almonds? You can try blending some silken tofu but it won’t give the same richness as the nut paste.
Sounds wonderful!
It looks delicious. I make something pretty much the same but we call it mushroom stroganoff, our substitute for beef stroganoff. That has the creamy sauce. I always think of ragu (Italian) as being tomato based. I do not know of ragout. Is that French?
Hi Athanasia, a ragout is French (ragu is Italian) and it's a thick, rich stew with veggies (and sometimes meat) in it. Hope that clears it! 🙂
Cute pictures of Jay and Opie...we too went for a short vacation to San Francisco and Yosemite, didn't go to the beach though.....love this recipe Vaishali, must have been tasty and flavorful, going to prepare this without the wine soon 🙂
Sounds like a lovely vacation, Gita. I haven't been to Yosemite, and look forward to very much some day.
Hi Vaishali,
This looks delicious.Since some in my family do not drink any wine,is it possible to replace the wine with some other ingredient?Thank you.Jay looks so happy.:) and Opie is super cute.:)
Hi Geetha, just skip the wine. You can use vegetable stock instead of plain water in the following step to add more flavor.