Mushrooms and Buckwheat with Truffle Oil

Recipes of this type, using grains/ substitutes cooked in this style, are commonly referred to as risottos, but I hesitate to call this a risotto as it does not contain any rice.

It can be cooked using the same method as you would a risotto, by adding ladles of broth to it as it cooks, allowing for gradual absorption. This recipe, however, is a busy person's version, and I have eliminated that step and instead cook the mushrooms in a concentrated broth (pan-steamed, as I like to call it) followed by adding the buckwheat for a couple of minutes to gain somer flavour and finally adding water and letting it all cook into one delicious, soft and nutty, beautifully textured combination before adding some parsley and truffle oil. Hopefully you have some truffle oil left over from the artichoke pate recipe featured a few weeks ago? 

The mushroom sauce is very versatile, and you could use it with a pasta, puy lentils or rice, or let it reduce further and serve it on toast. I like using buckwheat in this recipe. It doesn't come out gooey as can happen when cooking buckwheat, and it is a wholegrain that cooks quickly, unlike brown arborio rice that can take a very long time.

Ingredients: (Serves 2 hungry adults & 1 toddler)

• 500g (brown) button mushrooms (we like our mushrooms)
• 1 X cup buckwheat (170g)
• 1 X medium leek, or onion
• 1 X large clove garlic
• 1 X small bunch of parsley
• 2 1/2 cups of water (750ml)
• 2 tbsp low salt bouillon
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper to taste

Method: approx. 60 min (see video below) 

• Chop the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces, slice the leek and dice the garlic and place in a large pan/pot with a lid. It will look like a lot of food, but it will reduce down to create a richly flavoured final dish. 
• Add the bouillon and 1/2 cup of water and put on medium heat until the liquid comes to a gentle boil.
• Let the mushrooms simmer for 15 minutes stirring every few minutes. You may notice after a couple of minutes of cooking that the pan seems dry, this is normal as the mushrooms will first absorb the liquid in the pan before releasing it along with their liquid, so resist adding any liquid and just give it a minute

• After 15 minutes add the buckwheat and mix well. Return to heat for 2 minutes mixing well before adding the remaining 2 cups of water and returning to heat for 20 min. At this stage you can just leave it, giving it a stir every 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile chop the parsley
• After 20 minutes stir in the parsley, truffle oil and nutritional yeast. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve!