Mushroom Ragù

mushroomragu This rich and flavourful mushroom ragù is one of the most delicious and versatile plant-based recipes I know how to make. It's something I make often and almost always have some in my freezer because there is no end to the list of ways you can use it. A ragù is traditionally an Italian meat based sauce that's most commonly served with pasta. This version replaces the meat with mushrooms for an incredibly rich and versatile meatless ragù that can be used to make the most decadent creamy mushroom pasta, or spooned over crispy fried potatoes, polenta, or eggs. Mushroom ragù is the foundation for this vegetarian shepherd's pie with cream cheese mashed potatoes. Use it to make the most incredible mushroom pizza and white mushroom lasagna. It's the secret to the most incredible homemade mushroom ravioli with garlic butter cream sauce. Stuff it inside these super easy stuffed flatbreads, with plenty of cheese of course. Add mushroom ragù to soups or stews, spread over bread or toast, tuck it into homemade ravioli and spread over sandwiches. In short, mushroom ragù is a mushroom lovers dream. Below you'll find the mushroom ragù recipe of course, but also plenty of ideas for how to customize it to your personal tastes and several delicious recipes and ideas for how to use it.

1 oz dried porcini or shiitake mushrooms
1 lb white button, cremini, or portobello mushrooms
⅓ cup (66 g) + 2 Tbsp. (25 g) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1 Tbsp. Better than Bouillon Base
½ cup shallot or yellow onion, diced (75 g)
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. sumac or lemon zest, freshly grated
2 tsp. ground cumin
½-1½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
1 cup dry or off-dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc (236 mL)

Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour 2 cups boiling water over them. Let the mushrooms soak for 30 minutes, while you prepare the other ingredients.

Place a rack on the top third of your oven and preheat it to 425°F (220°C/200°C fan, Gas Mark 7). Cover the bottom or a rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Use a damp paper towel to gently clean the fresh mushrooms. Slice them into ¼" slices then chop the slices into pieces that are roughly the size of a pea or a bean. Spread the chopped mushrooms out on the baking sheet, drizzle with ⅓ cup olive oil, and sprinkle with about 1 tsp. of salt. Stir the mushrooms, olive oil and salt around on the baking sheet, then spread them out in an even layer. Roast the mushrooms in the oven until they are dark, well-reduced, and slightly crisp, about 35 minutes.

Line a strainer with cheesecloth or paper towels and set it over a bowl. Pour the dried mushrooms and their soaking liquid into the strainer. Use your fingers to squeeze the mushrooms over the strainer to extract all the flavourful juices. Measure out 1 cup of the soaking liquid and stir the Better Than Bouillon base into the soaking liquid. Set aside.

If using shiitakes, cut away and discard the stems. Chop the softened dried mushrooms into pieces that are about the same size as the chopped fresh mushrooms.

Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil and the diced shallots to a large, heavy skillet or cast iron braiser. Set it over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the shallots are soft and translucent, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, minced garlic, sumac, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes and ½ tsp. ground black pepper to the pan with the shallots. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute longer to open up the flavour of the spices.

Pour in the wine and cook, stirring every now and then, until nearly all the liquid has evaporated.

Add all the mushrooms and the reserved mushroom soaking liquid to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has reduced by a little more than half. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if you like.

Makes 4 servings.

Cook's Notes:

Regardless of how I'm using this ragù (scroll up for a list of ways to use it), I generally like to drizzle it with some truffle oil and sprinkled with a handful chopped fresh Italian parsley or other fresh herbs.
Mushroom ragù freezes well (scroll up for more information about storing the ragù) so every time I make this I try to make extra just so I can tuck some into the freezer for another day.

Storage:

Mushroom ragù will keep well in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Every time I make mushroom ragù I purposely make extra just to put some in the freezer for another day. My future self is always so super grateful to my past self for doing so.
Allow frozen mushroom ragù to thaw in the refrigerator overnight or defrost it in the microwave. If the container you've frozen the ragù in is water-tight, you can also place it in a bowl of hot water to thaw it on the countertop relatively quickly.

Substitutions:

Don't want to cook with alcohol? No problem. Just skip the step where the wine is added (no need to replace it with another liquid) and add ½ tsp. of sugar along with the spices. Immediately after cooking, add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice. The sugars and flavours of white wine add a touch of sweetness, acidity and complexity to this dish. You'll get something similar from that pinch of sugar and splash of vinegar or lemon juice.
If you can't find sumac and don't want to order it: Add a Tbsp. or so of lemon zest in place of sumac.
Instead of Better Than Bouillon: The advantage of using Better Thank Bouillon is that it's a way to add concentrated flavour without adding too much liquid. A good alternative is to pour one cup of a good quality, flavourful stock or broth into a saucepan and set it over high heat. Allow the stock to boil until most of the liquid has evaporated and the stock has reduced to about ¼ cup. Remove the saucepan from the heat and use this in place of Better Than Bouillon.
Use other kinds of mushrooms: Feel free to use any kind of mushrooms you like in this recipe. The mushrooms used in this recipe were chosen because they are so easy to find and relatively inexpensive. But if you're lucky enough to have access to oyster mushrooms, black trumpets, chanterelles, or any other kind of mushrooms, use whatever you like.

Additions:

If you happen to have some mushroom powder add some of that along with the other spices to intensify the mushroom flavour.
Fresh tomatoes are another delicious addition to mushroom ragù but only if they are in season. Peak of the season tomatoes will add bright, fresh flavour while bland off-season tomatoes will water the ragù down without adding anything. Dice the tomatoes and add them along with the mushrooms.
Make it creamy. Stir in some heavy cream or cashew cream at the end of cooking for a gorgeous creamy mushroom sauce that's incredible over everything from pasta to chicken, to thick pieces of toast. (To make cashew cream let 1 cup of raw cashews soak for 30 minutes in 1 cup boiling water then dump it into a high-speed blender and process until smooth.)
Add some curry flavour by adding your favourite curry powder along with or instead of the ground cumin. This version is especially good with the addition of cream and served with warm naan for dipping.
Add cheese. Add some shredded Parmesan cheese at the end of cooking, stirring it around just long enough for it to melt or just sprinkle it over the top of the ragù before serving.
Add fresh herbs. Immediately after cooking, toss in a handful (or more) of whatever fresh herbs you like to add plenty of bright, fresh flavour.
Drizzle with truffle oil. I did just this, drizzling the bowl of freshly cooked mushroom ragu with some white truffle oil just before serving. Absolutely delicious.

Serving Suggestions:

There are literally hundreds of ways to use mushroom ragù. It's one of those core recipes that can be eaten on its own and enhance so many different kind of dishes. What follows is a list of ways I've used it over the years.
3-Cheese mushroom pizza with truffle oil and herbs. This is the kind of pizza you make when self care means an evening at home tucked in with rich and cozy, deeply comforting, simple-meets-decadent, cheesy, saucy mushrooms on a soft and chewy homemade pizza crust dripping with truffle oil and roasted garlic.