The peak of wild mushroom season falls in autumn and one of our favourite ways to use our delicious, handpicked mushrooms is to combine them with freshly picked kale, homegrown garlic and onions from the store cupboard. Together with a handful of pearled spelt and some pudgy dumplings, they make a comforting and flavoursome broth, which falls somewhere between a soup and a stew. It’s perfect for eating in deep bowls by the fire on cold evenings.
Main INGREDIENTS
- Vegetables
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
For the broth:
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh sage leaves
- 2 large sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped from the stem and finely chopped
- 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
- 3 fat cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 150g pearled spelt or barley, rinsed
- 20g dried porcini mushrooms*
- 2.5l stock (chicken, beef or vegetable)
- 200g fresh wild field mushrooms* or cultivated chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 300g cavolo nero, any tough stems removed, and leaves cut roughly into 1cm strips
For the dumplings:
- 150g plain wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 large pinch sea salt
- 50g unsalted butter, cubed
- 25g parsley, finely chopped (plus extra for serving)
- 50g mature cheddar cheese, grated
- 50ml cold water
- *a good mushroom guidebook will show you how to identify wild mushrooms safely; alternatively bought cultivated mushrooms can be used instead and dried porcini are easy to find in most supermarkets too.
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Method
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1Melt the butter over a low heat in your Le Creuset Signature Cast Iron 24cm Casserole pot. Add the chopped sage and rosemary and fry for a minute. Stir in the onion and garlic and leave to cook gently for around 5 minutes until they begin to soften. Stir in the pearled spelt and dried porcini, cover with the stock, pop the casserole lid on, and turn the heat up to medium to bring the broth up to a gentle simmer. Leave to putter away for 20 minutes while you get on with making the dumplings.
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2To make the dumplings, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl or dish. Add the butter and lightly rub it into the flour until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs. Gently fold in the chopped parsley and grated cheddar. Pour over the cold water and stir it into the mixture, bringing it together to form a slightly sticky, green-flecked ball of dough. Divide the dough into 12, evenly sized pieces and roll each one into a ball to form the dumplings.
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3Season the broth well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in the fresh mushrooms and cavolo nero and leave to cook for five minutes until the kale has wilted below the surface of the broth. Plop the dumplings into the pot, ensuring they are evenly spaced out, put the lid back on the pan and cook for around 15 minutes until the dumplings have expanded outwards and upwards. Sprinkle with a little extra chopped parsley just before serving. Ladle into deep bowls and eat while piping hot.
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4Chef's Notes:
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5Any leftovers will keep happily for a day or two in the fridge, but you may find the pearled spelt and any remaining dumplings will soak up most of the remaining broth, so you may wish to add a little extra stock when reheating to loosen the mixture up again.
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6Instead of using regular sea salt, try seasoning the broth with a little smoked salt for an extra level of flavour which compliments the mushrooms perfectly.
