Not all of my recipes work out. Some are lackluster, some could be alright with a few tweaks, and some are downright disastrous. But when you take the first taste of a new dish and immediately message your husband to say “this is sooo good, come home and taste test RIGHT NOW”, you know you’ve got a keeper. This recipe for portobellos in pepitoria is one of those rare gems that blew my mind. The ingredients are so simple that you’d never expect it to be so tasty.

This recipe is based on a Spanish dish called pollo en pepitoria, which is chicken served in a sauce which has been prepared by thickening the juices of the bird with almonds and egg yolks. Sounds pretty gross, doesn’t it? I’ve never tried pollo en pepitoria as I’ve been vegetarian for much longer than I’ve lived in Spain, but preparing the sauce with a hearty mushroom stock and allowing the portobellos to release their liquid into the sauce makes a pretty tasty dish in its own right.

Although I’ve prepared this version with portobellos, other kinds of mushrooms would work well here too. Regular button mushrooms prepared this way make a great appetizer or tapa, and since the two portobellos I bought in the market the other day cost me €2.40, I usually prefer to use cheaper button or oyster mushrooms. One ingredient that you can’t skimp on, however, is the sherry - it gives the sauce it’s special “Spanish” flavour. In Spain a bottle of sherry is cheaper and easier to come by than two Portobello mushrooms, but even if you don’t live here you needn’t splash out on an expensive bottle either. Just be sure to use dry sherry, also called fino, for this recipe (avoid cooking sherry for the additives).

Portobellos in Pepitoria

Name: Portobellos in Pepitoria
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 onion, chopped; 1 leek, white and green parts, chopped; 2 carrots, chopped; 2 ribs of celery, chopped, with their leaves; A pinch of salt; 225 grams (1/2 pound) button mushrooms; 30 grams (1 oz) dried shiitake mushrooms (or add more button mushrooms if you don’t have shiitakes); 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped; A bunch of parsley; 1 bay leaf; 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns; 8 cups of water; 4 portobello mushrooms (other mushroom varieties can be substituted); 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped; 2 cloves of garlic, minced, divided; 1 bay leaf; 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/2 cup dry sherry (fino); 1 cup mushroom broth; 20 almonds, peeled; 2 hard-boiled egg yolks or if vegan 1 small baguette slice of white bread; A pinch of saffron; 1 tablespoon fresh parsley; Salt and pepper

Yield: Serves 2

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

For the mushroom stock (just a guideline, use any veggies you have on hand)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, white and green parts, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped, with their leaves
A pinch of salt
225 grams (½ pound) button mushrooms
30 grams (1 oz) dried shiitake mushrooms (or add more button mushrooms if you don’t have shiitakes)
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
A bunch of parsley
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
8 cups of water

For the portobellos in pepitoria

4 portobello mushrooms (other mushroom varieties can be substituted)
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ a medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced, divided
1 bay leaf
⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup dry sherry (fino)
1 cup mushroom broth
20 almonds, peeled
2 hard-boiled egg yolks or if vegan 1 small baguette slice of white bread
A pinch of saffron
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

Instructions

For the mushroom stock

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, leek, carrots, celery and salt and stir to combine. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown. Add in all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for 1 hour. When ready, strain the stock, squeezing as much liquid from the vegetables as possible. Discard the solids. This is more stock than you need for the pepitoria so you can freeze the leftovers.

For the portobellos in pepitoria

Gently toast the almonds in a pan over medium heat until golden brown. While the almonds are toasting, prepare your portobellos by removing the stem and gills. Wipe off any dirt. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until soft. Add two thirds of your minced garlic, bay leaf, and cinnamon and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the sherry and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add the mushroom stock and bring to a simmer. Place your portobellos into the pan and cover. Reduce heat to medium low and allow the portobellos to cook until tender, 10 – 15 minutes, turning halfway through. Once soft, remove the portobellos from the pan and set aside.
Remove the bay leaf from the pan. Transfer ¼ cup of the mushroom-cooking liquid to a food processor or blender and add the remaining quarter of garlic, toasted almonds, egg yolks or bread, and saffron. Process to a smooth paste, adding more liquid if necessary. Add this paste to your pan along with the parsley and mix well to combine. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened, about 2 minutes. (At this point you can adjust the consistency of the sauce to your liking by either adding more mushroom stock for a thinner sauce or allowing the sauce to reduce). Return the portobellos to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve portobellos in their sauce with crusty bread on the side for dipping.

Ingredients

For the mushroom stock (just a guideline, use any veggies you have on hand)

For the portobellos in pepitoria

Instructions

For the mushroom stock

For the portobellos in pepitoria

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