Mushroom Stroganoff Rice

Ingredients

• 250 g long grain rice, rinsed
• 400 g chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 700 ml vegetable stock
• 150 g sour cream
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 20 g butter
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 15g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Dressed green salad, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large lidded pan over medium-high heat until the butter is foaming and smells nutty.
2. Tip in the mushrooms in a single layer and leave them alone for 3 minutes before stirring — crowd the pan and they steam, give them space and they brown. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes total, stirring only now and then, until they've lost their moisture and turned deeply golden at the edges. Season generously with salt and black pepper.
3. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes until softened and sweet, scraping up any mushroom fond from the base of the pan. Stir in the garlic and smoked paprika and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant — bloom the paprika in the buttery juices so it tastes of itself, not dust, and watch the garlic, it turns bitter the moment it goes past pale gold.
4. Add the rinsed rice and lentils and stir for 1 minute so every grain is coated in the smoky, buttery base.
5. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a gentle simmer, scraping the bottom once more. Cover, drop the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes until the rice is tender and the lentils have softened into the grains.
6. Take the pan off the heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes so the rice can settle and finish steaming — lift the lid early and you lose the last of the cook.
7. Fold through the soured cream, Dijon mustard and most of the parsley until the whole pan looks creamy, glossy and flecked with paprika. Taste now — adjust the salt and pepper here, at the pan, not at the table.
8. Spoon into warm bowls, scatter over the remaining parsley, and serve with torn crusty sourdough for mopping and a sharply dressed green salad alongside.