Deliciously Ella’s Mushroom & Walnut Ragu

I made this for some girlfriends who have been taste-testing our recipes since day one, and they said it was their favourite dish ever! It’s hearty, warming, really rich and just a dream dinner. The leftovers work brilliantly too; I’ll often make a double portion and have the second serving with jacket potatoes later in the week or take it to work with some quinoa or salad for an on-the-go option.

Serves 4, with a little left over

Ingredients

• 20g dried porcini mushrooms
• 250ml boiling water
• 100g walnuts
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced
• olive oil
• 400g chestnut or button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 × 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1–2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 4 portions of pasta (about 80g per person)
• salt and pepper
• handful of chopped parsley, to serve

1. Start by soaking the dried mushrooms. Put them into a bowl with the boiling water and leave for 20 minutes. Once soaked, drain well (but keep the liquid), then cut the mushrooms into small pieces.
2. While the mushrooms are soaking, chop the walnuts into tiny pieces – they need to look like large breadcrumbs. Place them in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat and toast for about 5 minutes, until golden, stirring every now and again. Once toasted, remove from the heat and spoon into a bowl. Place the frying pan back on the heat.
3. Add the onion, garlic and celery to the frying pan, along with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5–10 minutes, until soft.
4. Add the fresh mushrooms and red pepper, with the thyme, oregano and rosemary, and cook for about 5 minutes, until soft.
5. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, tamari and dried mushrooms with their water. Leave to simmer for 10–15 minutes – you want the ragu to be thick and have lost the excess liquid. Stir in the walnuts and nutritional yeast and leave them to cook in the sauce for a final 5 minutes.
6. While the ragu is simmering, cook your pasta in a pan of boiling water, following the instructions on the packet. Drain well then stir into the ragu once both are ready. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

Recipe extracted from Deliciously Ella Quick & Easy.