To prepare the tomatoes, score the tops of them with a cross and dunk into a bowl of hot water. Leave for 30 seconds, remove and dunk into a bowl of cold water, leaving for 1 minute. Using the edge of the crosses, peel the skin away. Then quarter the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds.

Clean the mushrooms using a pastry brush, keeping the Portobellos separate.

In a wide frying pan heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over a medium-high heat. Sauté the onions until brown and softened. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, heat another 1 tbsp of olive oil and cook the Portobellos until golden in colour.

Lower the heat, add the sage, thyme, chilli flakes, tomato puree, tomatoes, rehydrated wild mushrooms (keeping the liquid), Wild Mushroom Ragouty. Add more the liquid!) salt and pepper. Give everything a stir, cooking for a couple of minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

Add the flour by sprinkling evenly across the pan, stirring for a few minutes to incorporate evenly and to cook the flour. Add the onions back in.

Pour in half the dried mushroom liquid and keep stirring to encourage the flour to thicken the liquid evenly. Once thickened, gradually add the remaining mushroom liquid in slowly and cook for 2 minutes until the sauce has a gravy-like consistency. Add water to thin the sauce if desired.

Taste and adjust the seasoning, it may need a squeeze of lemon juice to lift the flavour. At this point the ragout can be cooled for re-heating later or freezing.

Just before serving, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small frying pan on a moderate heat and add the wild mushrooms, season and sauté for 2 minutes until they begin to colour. Add the garlic and parsley, cook for a further minute, stirring. Add the wild mushrooms to the base sauce, transfer to a warm serving bowl and serve.

Notes

Serving suggestion: warm polenta (as per photo) or wild rice and steamed greens.

CNM recommends the use of organic ingredients.

All the recipes on these Diploma Courses are based around organic, wholefoods and without any processed elements. If you want to learn more about becoming a Natural Chef come along to our next Open Evening. Click here for our next Open Evening.