Whenever I cook, I prefer savory foods full of flavor. In fact, my favorite foods are creamy, salty, and filling rather than sweet. For me, savory is satisfying, so I made a mouth-watering creamy mushroom recipe. Unfortunately, although my family loves the food I cook, everyone isn't often fighting for the last creamy mushroom in the bowl. And, last night, my family literally bartered for the last creamy mushroom. I guess I should be flattered, or maybe I should have made more mushrooms?
Mushrooms—which aren't veggie or fruit but a type of fungus—have a uniquely savory flavor known as umami and a dense, meaty texture when cooked. For that reason, mushrooms make the perfect vegan meal. Not only are mushrooms hearty, but they also absorb flavors and adapt well to many ways of cooking.
For this particular creamy mushroom recipe, I roasted the mushrooms in the oven. Still, I made the sauce separately, poured it over the mushrooms, allowing the flavors to melt together while roasting in the oven.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF EATING MUSHROOMS?
According to Joel Fuhrman, MD, in his article "Mighty Mushrooms: Boost Immune Function and Brain Health and Guard Against Cancer," claims mushrooms are one of the best sources of healing properties:
- Strengthen the Immune System
- Breast cancer prevention effects.
- Protect the brain from oxidative stress
- And, mushrooms should only be eaten cooked. This is because several raw culinary mushrooms contain small amounts of a potentially carcinogenic substance called agaritine, and cooking mushrooms significantly reduces agaritine content.
With that said, I try to eat mushrooms often and add them to a ton of recipes.
WHAT'S IN THE CREAMY MUSHROOM SAUCE?
As I said before, I'm a savory sauce lover. To make a healthy, savory sauce, all you need is the right combination of ingredients. Shallot and onions, for instance, work perfectly together to create a savory sauce. Then, the rest comes together in one pan.
- Shallots
- Garlic (fresh is best)
- Dry White Wine
- Raw Cashews
- Dijon Mustard
- Nutritional Yeast
- Vegetable Broth
- Tomato Paste
Another helpful hint is to buy mini bottles of white wine, so you don't have to open a whole bottle of wine to cook with. As a result, you won't be forced to drink the bottle (haha).
HOW TO MAKE A SAVORY CREAMY MUSHROOM RECIPE
First, I used my Cuisinart Mini Chopper to mince the shallots and garlic. Even though you can dice the shallots and garlic, I prefer the smaller ones to avoid large chunks of either in the sauce.
Once minced, I place the shallots and onions in a skillet and saute until the shallots are translucent and brown in the pan. Then, I add the white wine, which immediately causes the shallots and garlic to caramelize. Next, I add a little vegetable broth, reduce the heat to low, and allow the vegetable broth to dissipate.
In the meantime, combine the raw cashews, vegetable broth, dijon mustard, and nutritional yeast, and blend using a high-speed blender until creamy.
Then, you add the cashew cream and whisk and add additional vegetable broth and tomato paste. In the end, the sauce will thicken as the ingredients are whisked together.
CLEANING AND PREPARING THE MUSHROOMS
Despite the belief that the best way to clean mushrooms is not to clean them at all, I beg to differ. Sometimes, simply brushing the dirt off mushrooms is not enough! For example, I often buy organic mushrooms at the farmers' market, and the mushrooms seem dirtier than those at the grocery store. So instead, I suggest showering the mushrooms, NOT A BATH! In other words, don't soak the mushrooms in water; use a small amount of water to remove excess dirt.
Because I want the sauce to roast inside the mushrooms, I place them opening side up in the pan once I remove the stems. This way, the sauce goes into the mushroom holes and surrounds the mushrooms with sauce.
However, Mushrooms are quite sturdy, so the creamy mushroom recipe can be prepped ahead of time and placed in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook. Since I like to prep food on Sundays, I meal-prepped my creamy mushroom recipe on Sunday and didn't cook them until Monday night for dinner.
So, the next time you are looking for a scrumptious, savory dish, try my creamy mushroom recipe. You won't be disappointed.
HERE ARE SOME GREAT WAYS TO ADD MUSHROOMS TO YOUR MEALS
- Pesto Pasta with Mushrooms
- Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms
- Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms
- Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burger
- Hungarian Mushroom Soup
- Mushroom Chorizo Tacos
- Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
- Vegan Crock-Pot Portobello Mushroom Stew
- Vegan Mushroom and Spinach Strudel
- Oil-Free Rosemary and Thyme Mushroom Bruschetta
- Vegan Clam Chowder Oh My!
- Vegan Fajitas
Creamy Mushroom Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces small mushrooms of choice cleaned and stems removed
- 2 shallots minced (cut smaller than diced)
- 4 cloves garlic minced (fresh is best)
- ¼ cup dry white wine I used a mini bottle of Chardonnay
- 2 cups vegetable broth divided
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
Cashew Cream
- ¼ cup raw cashews
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
Garnish (optional)
- 2 Tablespoons Parsley chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Thyme chopped
Instructions
- Clean and remove the stems from the mushrooms.
- Place mushrooms with the openings (holes) facing upwards
- Set aside
- PREPARE CASHEW CREAM
- Soak cashews overnight in water if you do not have a high-speed blender; otherwise, cashews do not need to be soaked.
- Add cashews, vegetable broth, dijon mustard, and nutritional yeast in a high-speed blender ( I used a small blender cup) until smooth.
- Set aside
- HOW TO MAKE THE CREAMY MUSHROOM SAUCE
- Saute minced shallots and garlic in a skillet until translucent.
- Then, add white wine and continue to cook the shallot garlic mixture until it begins to brown and slightly burn the bottom of the pan.
- Next, add ½ cup of vegetable broth and stir, removing the brown areas on the pan's bottom with a wooden spoon or whisk.
- Now, pour in the cashew cream, scraping the sides of the blender to get it all.
- Whisk together with the other ingredients and add tomato paste.
- The mixture will immediately thicken; reduce the heat to simmer.
- Now stir in the remaining 1 ½ cups of vegetable broth.
- Whisk again, increase the temperature to low, and stir until it thickens again; then, remove from the heat.
- Pour the sauce over the mushrooms, filling the mushroom holes and surrounding the mushrooms with the sauce.
- Cover with aluminum foil or a top of some kind.
- Place in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook covered for 35 minutes; remove the cover, and cook another 5 minutes uncovered.
- Remove from the oven and place the creamy mushrooms in a serving dish and garnish with parsley and thyme.
- You may want to serve with some crusty bread to dip in the extra sauce.
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
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