THE South African Mushroom Farmers’ Association’s new child-friendly recipes will have everyone leaving the dinner table happy, healthy and satisfied without feeling bloated. Plus, they are quick and easy to make: exactly what we want to hear when racking our brains to find the best option for a busy weeknight dinner when the little ones don’t want to eat their veggies.
BEEF, BEAN & MUSHROOM SLIDERS WITH HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE
Makes ± 12-15 sliders, depending on size
Ingredients
Patties:
- 1 x 400g tin black beans, rinsed, drained and lightly mashed
- 250g portabellini mushrooms, finely sliced
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 500g beef mince
- 50g panko breadcrumbs
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
Homemade tomato sauce:
- 1 x 400g tin tomato purée
- 40g brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp celery salt
To serve:
- 12-15 white slider buns / mini burger buns (Many bakeries also call these cocktail buns)
- Mayonnaise
- Lettuce leaves
- Sliced tomato
- Sliced red onion
- Olive oil, for cooking
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
To make the tomato sauce:
- Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir gently until everything comes to a light simmer.
- Cover and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer for 15 minutes for the flavours to develop.
- Taste to adjust seasoning.
- Cool.
For the patties:
- Preheat a braai to medium high heat.
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan.
- Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown.
- Add the onion and a pinch of salt.
- Cook until tender, golden and lightly caramelised.
- Place in a large bowl.
- To the bowl add the black beans, beef, breadcrumbs and parsley.
- Season well with salt and pepper.
- Mix thoroughly until very well combined.
- Shape mixture into patties.
It is a good idea to check the size of your slider buns and make your patties are just larger than the buns as they will shrink during cooking.
- Brush patties all over with olive oil and braai until golden brown on both sides.
- You can also bake them in the oven or cook them on the stovetop.
- Allow the patties to rest.
- Build sliders with your favourite burger toppings.
- Add a generous dollop of homemade tomato sauce to each slider and tuck in.
CHEESY MUSHROOM MACARONI
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 500g portabello mushrooms
- 350g macaroni or similar short pasta
- 500g medium fat cream cheese
- 100g cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 Tbsp fresh chives, minced
- 100g cheddar cheese, grated
- 3 Tbsp breadcrumbs
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Fresh basil leaves, for serving
- 28 x 18 cm baking dish
Method
- Preheat oven to 200˚C, fan on.
- Place portabellos on a large baking tray, season with salt and pepper.
- Roast in the middle of the oven for ±7 minutes until tender and juicy.
- Allow mushrooms to rest, drain off their liquid and slice into large chunks.
- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook the macaroni until al dente.
- Using a jug, scoop out a generous cup of pasta cooking water and set aside.
- Drain the macaroni.
- While the macaroni is cooking, place cream cheese, cheddar, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder and nutmeg in a large saucepan.
- Switch heat onto very low and allow everything to melt together.
- When the cream cheese is almost melted, pour in a little pasta water, mixing well until you achieve a smooth silky sauce.
- Add the drained macaroni and the fresh chives, stir to combine.
- Keep adding a little extra pasta water to keep things saucy.
- Finally fold in the large chunks of roasted mushrooms.
- Taste to adjust seasoning.
- Scoop mixture into a baking dish and top with remaining cheddar and breadcrumbs.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 10 – 15 min until the top is golden brown and bubbling.
- Scoop into bowls, top with some fresh basil and enjoy!
BEEF & MUSHROOM STEW WITH MINI DUMPLINGS
Serves 6
Ingredients
Stew:
- ± 1.2 kg stewing beef
- 50g flour
- 2 leeks, washed & sliced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled & sliced
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1L beef stock
- 4 shallots, peeled & halved
- 500g white button mushrooms, quartered
Dumplings:
- 100g self raising flour
- 50g butter, cold and cubed
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- ± 60ml cold water
- Olive oil, for cooking
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
For the stew:
- Preheat oven to 160˚C.
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large heavy-based pot over a medium heat.
- Place the beef in a bowl, toss with the flour and season well with salt and pepper.
- Add the seasoned meat to the hot oil and brown all over.
- Remove and set aside.
- Heat another drizzle of oil in the same pot.
- Add the leeks, carrots, celery and herbs. Sauté.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute.
- Add the balsamic and stock, making sure to scrape any stuck brown bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Return the browned beef to the pot along with the shallots.
- Bring to a simmer, cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours until the meat is fall apart tender.
When the stew is almost done cooking, make the dumplings:
- Place the flour, butter and salt into a bowl.
- Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the chopped parsley and mix well.
- Add 2-3 Tbsp water at a time and knead into a soft dough.
- Shape the dough into small balls.
- Remove stew from the oven.
- Turn heat up to 180˚C, with the fan on.
- Stir the mushrooms into the stew.
- Cover the surface of the stew with the little dumplings, spacing them evenly all over.
- Cover with the pot lid and return to the oven for 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove the lid and bake for a further 15 minutes until the dumplings are golden.
- Scoop the stew into bowls, dividing up the dumplings and serve.
VEGGIE LOADED SPAGHETTI CAKE
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 320g spaghetti
- 250g brown mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled & diced
- 200g baby spinach
- 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 250ml cream
- 150ml milk
- 4 large free-range eggs, beaten
- 100g cheddar cheese, grated
- Olive oil, for cooking
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Grated parmesan, for serving
Method
- Preheat oven to 180˚C.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
- Cook the spaghetti until it is just shy of al dente.
- Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
- Set aside.
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan.
- Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown.
- Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add a fresh glug of oil and cook the onion and carrot until tender. Add the baby spinach and switch off the heat, just letting it wilt.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the cream, milk, eggs and cheese.
- Season well with salt and pepper.
- Add all the veggies and the spaghetti to the cream mixture and toss to combine.
- Mix well so the veg is evenly distributed throughout the spaghetti.
- Transfer mixture to a baking dish.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top and the filling has just set.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the top with grated parmesan.
- Slice into chunky wedges and serve with a green side salad.
