I love when you can feel the seasons click….and change. The last couple of weeks where I live the weather has started to cool down and has made me start to crave warm, comforting foods.

I had a bunch of Portabello Mushrooms sitting in the fridge and I was trying to think what I wanted to do with them. I’ve been eating a lot of rice dishes risotto style lately…so I wanted a change from that. I’ve also made crumbed mushrooms but that requires a lot of oil and I wanted to make something that was just healthy and wholesome. Enter the Mushroom Lentil stew.

This recipe did NOT disappoint. It’s:

Savoury

Hearty

Comforting

Flavoursome

I used split peas and I must admit they seemed to take a bit longer to cook then the lentils. If I was to make this dish again I would consider just putting in frozen peas. I think that would work just as well.

I also deliberately used canned lentils as well as the dry red lentils. The reason being, I really LOVE the flavour of red lentils, they’re my favourite but when I cook them they seem to lose their shape a lot and I did want to bring in some more texture to the dish alongside the mushrooms. I could have just used only tinned lentils without the dry red ones…but again…I feel the red lentils give a really tasty, savoury flavour when it cooks and breaks down into the broth, it gives it a really tasty gravy like consistency.

Now it’s up to you what you pair this with. I’m sure it would go great with some rice. It would even hold up well just by itself without any accompaniments. Actually this would go great in a pie. But can I tell ya? The mashed potato I made to go with this were devine. So I thought I’d give you my quick recipe that includes nutritional yeast and onion powder. It really steps things up in the flavour department and pairs so well with the savoury gravy of the mushroom lentil stew.

Let me know if you tried it and what you think. If you enjoy this recipe then please feel free to share it.

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Mushroom Lentil Stew

Course Main Course

Keyword lentils, mushrooms, stew

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 large Onion – chopped
2 cloves Garlic minced
2 cups sliced fresh Mushrooms (I used portabellos)
1 tsp Oregano (dry)
1 tsp Thyme (dry)
1 tsp Parsley (dry)
1/2 cup dry Red Lentils Rinsed
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 cup tin Lentils
1/2 cup dry Split peas (or fresh peas
4 cups Vegetable stock (I use Massels brand)
1 Tbsp Corn Flour
2-3 Tbsp water (to mix into cornflour, make sure its room temp or cold)

Mashed Potato

4 Potatoes
1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 Tbsp Plant based Butter
Splash of Plant based milk (Up to you how much you use, depends how creamy you want it)
Pepper to season

Instructions

Heat the Coconut Oil in a pan over a medium heat. Saute the onions & garlic for several minutes.
Add in the mushrooms and cook for a further minute before adding in the parsley, thyme, oregano, balsamic vinegar & soy sauce. Mix well and saute for a further 3-5 minutes.
Now add to the pan the lentils and split peas and vegetable stock and cook on a low to medium heat until the lentils and split peas are cooked. (Around 20-30 minutes)
While the lentil and mushroom mix is simmering. Chop and peel the potatoes and add to a pot of water and bring to the boil before simmering till tender. Rinse and then add in the nutritional yeast, onion powder, butter and plant based milk and mash up. Season with pepper.
Once almost all of the stock has been absorbed by the dry lentils and split peas, mix the cornflour and cold water together and add into the mushroom lentil stew and mix. This will help it thicken into more of a gravy like consistency.
Serve up the mushroom lentil stew over the bed of mashed potatoes.