Three Ways To Use Mushrooms In Your Recipes

One of the juiciest and most delicious foods in Mediterranean cuisine is mushrooms. These mushrooms add a very pleasant flavor to foods and create a contrast of textures in the mouth.

For many years, they have been considered a luxury item or a simple ornament in international gastronomy. Currently, they are key foods for a balanced diet. In addition to being low in calories, edible mushrooms offer numerous benefits to our health, being an excellent source of vegetable protein.

Nutritional properties of mushrooms

They have unique flavor and texture, which are conquering more and more diners around the world. Classically, they were used as an alternative source of protein in vegetarian diets.

The mushroom is rich in antioxidant vitamins, such as A, C, D and E, fiber and vegetable proteins. They also offer an excellent supply of minerals such as magnesium, selenium, phosphorus, iodine, potassium, calcium and zinc, to our body.

There are several kinds of mushrooms on the market, and they can usually be found most of the year; their cultivation is simple and they are acquired at a moderate price. With these tips for incorporating mushrooms into your recipes, you can enjoy a balanced and tasty diet.

3 ways to use mushrooms in your recipes

These mushrooms are very versatile foods and for this reason they have come to be considered a kind of wild card in the kitchen.

They can be combined with: vegetables, cereals, legumes, meats, dairy products, flour, among others. To help you incorporate mushrooms into your recipes,  the key is to take advantage of the softness of their constitution to add a different texture to the dish.

1. Mushroom and spinach risotto

Risotto is one of the most classic and versatile dishes of international cuisine, especially Italian. To make a delicious risotto, we need nothing more than rice, broth (or wine) and a lot of creativity.

The creaminess of this dish is not only provided by the mushrooms, it is provided by the cream and dairy products (cheese and butter, especially).

Ingredients

• 1 cup of rice (200 g).
• 1 small onion (30 g).
• Salt and pepper to taste).
• Dry white wine (to taste).
• 2 tablespoons of butter (15 g).
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil (45 g).
• 1 package of spinach leaves (500 g).
• 1 pot of vegetable broth (200 mL).
• 10 units of large mushrooms (200 g).

Preparation mode

• To start, sauté the onion with the olive oil until golden brown.

• Then we add the rice, always mixing to avoid burning.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Little by little, we add the red wine and let it evaporate for 5 minutes.
• Add the vegetable broth and let the rice cook.
• In another pot, sauté a tablespoon of olive oil with the mushrooms and the chopped spinach over high heat.
• We add the cooked rice and the two tablespoons of butter to “mount” our risotto.
• Finally, just serve with Parmesan cheese (or the one we like the most) and enjoy.

2. Creamy mushroom soup

This creamy mushroom soup is a practical and healthy recipe to please your appetite.

Ingredients

• Salt and pepper to taste).
• Dry white wine (to taste).
• 1 can of mushrooms (300g).
• ½ finely chopped leek (50 g).
• 1 pot of vegetable broth (300 mL).
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (30 g).
• 3 tablespoons (soup spoons) of light cream cheese (45 g).

Preparation mode

• It is placed to preheat a frying pan with a little olive oil over low heat.

• Once hot, sauté the chopped leek and mushrooms (whole)  with olive oil until cooked through (about 3 minutes). Two tablespoons of dry white wine can be added.
• Then, in a blender or mixer, we crush them and add the vegetable broth and light cream cheese.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• It is enough to serve the creamy soup and accompany it with what we like the most (for example, some delicious whole wheat toast).

3. Wholemeal pasta with mushrooms and cherry tomato

Pasta almost always triumphs because of its excellent ability to integrate several different ingredients and flavors. On this occasion, we propose a recipe with whole wheat pasta.

Ingredients

• Grated cheese (to taste)
• 1 can of mushrooms (200 g).
• 1 jar of cherry tomatoes (150 g).
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil (60 g).
• 1 small onion finely chopped (30 g).
• Salt and pepper to season (to taste).
• 1 package and a half of whole wheat pasta (300 g).
• Several fresh basil leaves to decorate (to taste).

Preparation mode

• Bring the water that we will use to cook the pasta to a boil over moderate heat.
• When we put the pasta to cook, bring a frying pan (or saucepan) over high heat to sauté the onion and mushrooms.
• After browning, add the cherry tomatoes and turn off the heat.
• In those moments, the whole wheat pasta will be cooked and we can quickly pass it through the sauteed cherry tomatoes , onion and mushrooms;
• Serve with grated cheese (or vegetable substitute) and enjoy.

Finally, we hope that these recipes are useful to you and that you are encouraged to prepare them. We are sure that the pleasant flavor of these mushrooms will give an extra touch to your dishes. Enjoy them!