Oyster mushrooms, tomato-chipotle butter sauce and creamy polenta
Ingredients Serves 4
Oyster mushrooms
500g oyster mushrooms, torn in half or in quarters if large
3 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Tomato chipotle butter sauce
4 tbsp olive oil
30g butter (use plant-based to make this vegan)
4 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 mild red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped (or less if you prefer)
½ tsp fine salt
150g sweet, ripe cherry tomatoes (such as Datterini), very finely chopped
1 tsp tomato paste
¾ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp chipotle chilli flakes (or less if you prefer)
Freshly ground black pepper
Polenta
350g water
200g single cream (use plant-based to make this vegan)
100g instant, quick-cook polenta
60g gruyere, finely grated (or white miso to taste)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried onion flakes
To serve
5g chives, finely chopped
1 lime, cut into wedges
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C fan.
Line a large, flat baking tray with parchment paper. Add the torn mushrooms, oil, salt and plenty of pepper and mix well. Spread out and roast for 20 mins, then stir and roast for another 5-10 mins, or until crisp and golden-brown. Set aside.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Add the oil and butter to a medium, non-stick frying pan and place on a low heat. Once the butter has melted, add the garlic, chilli and the fine salt and very gently fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until the garlic is soft and golden (you don’t want the garlic to brown or become crispy, so keep the heat very low). Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, paprika, chipotle and plenty of black pepper. Set aside.
Add all the ingredients for the polenta to a medium saucepan and whisk together. Place on a medium heat and cook, whisking continuously, until completely smooth and thickened to a wet polenta consistency, about 6 mins. If the polenta starts to spit at any point, turn the heat all the way down.
Spoon the polenta onto a platter/individual plates, then spoon over the sauce, followed by the mushrooms. Drizzle over some more oil and finish with the chives. Serve with the lime wedges alongside.
