Mushroom stew a la greque

Mushrooms a la grecque was something I learned to make as a student, a not inconsiderable amount of time ago.

Obviously in its student incarnation, there was no wine in the recipe - any white wine in the house would have been a) about two quid and not dissimilar in taste to drain cleaner and b) expressly to be drunk before a night out, not to be put in some poncy mushroom stew.

Yeah, it could look prettier - mushrooms don't lend themselves to glamour food - but I love this stew anyways.

Mushroom stew a la grecque

Makes two large bowls

Ingredients

One small white onion, cut into thin half moons

Two garlic cloves, finely sliced

One teaspoon dried thyme

One teaspoon dried oregano

4oog mushrooms (I've used a mixture of baby chestnut and white, cut into quarters)

100g cherry tomatoes

Two heaped dessertspoons of tomato ketchup

Bay leaf

150mls vegetable stock

100mls white wine

One half teaspoon Marmite or similar

Zest of half a lemon

Juice of quarter of a lemon

Large handful of chopped parsley

Black pepper

How you do it

Sweat the half moons of onion, garlic, oregano and thyme in a little oil until the onions are floppy and transparent - 10 or 15 minutes or so.

Add a little more oil and then add the mushrooms, frying for a minute or two.

Add the stock, white wine, bay leaf, cherry tomatoes, tomato ketchup, Marmite and lemon zest to the pan.

Bring the pan to a simmer and cook until the liquid has reduced by half.

Take off the heat, stir in the parsley, lemon juice and black pepper.

Serve with a big fat bread roll.