MUSHROOM BOURGUIGNON

SERVES:8

TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 45 minutes

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Chunks of portobello mushrooms napped in a silky, luscious sauce with pearl onions, carrots, garlic, and red wine will make you forget that traditional French bourguignon has boeuf (beef). Dried porcini mushrooms and anchovy paste helped “beef up” the flavor in this stew with their umami qualities. To achieve the body that would normally come from the collagen in the meat breaking down into the sauce, we simply stirred in a bit of powdered gelatin (giving us a smooth, unctuous sauce and cutting the cooking time to boot). Use a good quality
medium-bodied red wine, such as a Burgundy or other Pinot Noir, for this stew. If the pearl onions have a papery outer coating, remove by rinsing the onions in warm water and gently squeezing individual onions between your fingertips. Serve this over pasta, grains, or polenta.

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 pounds portobello mushroom caps, quartered
• 1½ cups frozen pearl onions, thawed
• Salt and pepper
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 (750-ml) bottle red wine
• 2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 garlic head, cloves separated (unpeeled) and smashed
• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed
• 10 sprigs fresh parsley, plus 3 tablespoons minced
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of portobello mushrooms, half of pearl onions, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released their liquid, 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pot, until mushrooms are tender and pan is dry, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer vegetables to bowl, cover, and set aside. Repeat with 3 tablespoons oil, remaining portobello mushrooms, remaining pearl onions, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper.
3. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and flour to now-empty pot and whisk until no dry flour remains. Whisk in broth, 2 cups wine, gelatin, tomato paste, and anchovy paste until combined, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps. Stir in chopped onions, carrots, garlic, porcini mushrooms, parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Bring to boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is slightly thickened and onions are translucent and softened, about 15 minutes.
4. Strain liquid through fine-mesh strainer set over large bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Return liquid to now-empty pot and stir in remaining wine.
5. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened to consistency of heavy cream, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir in reserved portobello-onion mixture, and cook until just heated through, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in minced parsley and serve.