Creamy Mushroom
Chestnut mushrooms, garlic and thyme in a light, roux-thickened creamy sauce that freezes without splitting.
makes 37 cubes, about 11p each
- Time
- 35 min12 min prep · 23 min cook
- Makes
- 37 cubes
- Cost per cubePer cube
- 11p
- Calories per cubeCalories
- 40 kcal
- A serving
- 4 cubes
- Spice
- 1 of 5
You’ll need
- 500gchestnut mushrooms, finely sliced
- 1 (150g)onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves (15g)garlic
- 30gbutter
- 30gplain flour
- 400mlsemi-skimmed milk
- 150mldouble cream
- 1vegetable stock cube
- 2gdried thyme
- 10mlrapeseed oil
Allergens: Gluten, Milk. Check the labels on stock cubes, sauces and pastes, as brands vary.
Use it for
Tagliatelle with mushroom sauce for one · 4 cubes; Sauce for chicken breast or pork chop · 3 cubes; Mushroom stroganoff over rice · 5 cubes
Method
- Step 1: Heat the oil in a wide pan over a high heat and brown the mushrooms in two batches; lift out. (10 min)
- Step 2: Lower the heat to medium, melt the butter and soften the onion for 6 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme for 1 minute.
- Step 3: Stir in the flour for 1 minute, then gradually whisk in the milk and crumble in the stock cube. Simmer, whisking, for 3 minutes until thick.
- Step 4: Stir in the cream and mushrooms and simmer for 2 minutes. Season.
- Step 5: Cool, pour into 30ml trays and freeze.
| kcal | protein | carbs | fat | fibre | salt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per cube | 40 | 1g | 1.8g | 3.1g | 0.3g | 0.15g |
| Per 4 cubes | 160 | 4g | 7.2g | 12.4g | 1.2g | 0.6g |
Cook’s notes
- Thaw in the fridge overnight, then warm gently, whisking, with a splash of milk.
- The flour roux is what stops it splitting in the freezer.
- If it looks grainy after thawing, whisk hard over a low heat and it will come back.
Use it for
- Tagliatelle with mushroom sauce for one · 4 cubes
- Sauce for chicken breast or pork chop · 3 cubes
- Mushroom stroganoff over rice · 5 cubes
Freeze, reheat and serve
- Freeze
- Cool it within two hours, freeze it in 30ml ice-cube trays, then bag and label the cubes. It keeps for 3 months.
- Use from frozen
- Thaw in the fridge overnight, then warm gently, whisking, with a splash of milk. Never refreeze thawed cubes.
- A portion
- 4 cubes is a serving: about 160 kcal.
Creamy Mushroom questions
Why brown the mushrooms in batches?
Too many mushrooms in the pan at once release their water and steam instead of browning. Cooking them in two batches over a high heat gives the colour and savoury depth the sauce relies on.
Which mushrooms can I use?
Chestnut mushrooms have more flavour than white button mushrooms, but either works. A few soaked and chopped dried porcini added with the onion make it richer still.
How do I loosen it for pasta?
Stir in a splash of the pasta cooking water as you toss it with the pasta. The starch in the water helps the sauce cling to every piece.
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Updated . Nutrition, costs and yields are estimates.