Mushroom Stroganoff

When my daughters were in their first school, mushroom stroganoff was offered on the hot dinner menu and my youngest particularly liked it. However, for years now they have been in a school where this isn't on the lunchtime menu and she misses it. I have looked around for a suitable recipe so I could make it at home but they all seem to contain white wine, which I'm pretty sure a dinner in a primary school wouldn't have done. Anyway, recently I came across a recipe that didn't include wine so I thought I would give it a go.

Last week my husband announced that he would like to eat less meat each week so it seemed like a good time to dig out that mushroom stroganoff recipe. However, he finds diary products difficult to digest so I thought it would be best to substitute the suggested soured cream for soya cream. It also called for Worcester sauce (or vegetarian alternative). Well, then, that could mean only one thing... my homemade Worcester sauce - or Moo-ster Sauce as I call it. And so, there we had it, not only a vegetarian meal but a vegan one too!

It was a very tasty and satisfying meal I'm pleased to say and one that sat so calmly on my husband's stomach that he asked if we could have a non-meat meal again the following day. Can't be bad.

Mushroom Stroganoff (serves 2)

Olive oil for frying
1 onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons paprika
1 garlic cloves, crushed (or a spoonful of Wild Garlic Pesto if you have it!)
300g mushrooms, sliced
Half pint vegetable stock
1 tablespoon Moo-ster Sauce
3 tablespoons of cream (or soya alternative)

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and fry the onions for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the paprika and garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the mushrooms and cook on high heat for 5 minutes. Pour in the stock and Moo-ster Sauce and bring back to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or so until the sauce reduces and thickens. Remove from the heat and stir through the cream. Serve with rice and fresh vegetables.