One of London’s hottest chefs, Nuno Mendes, discusses the food of his home city, Lisbon, and shares some of his favourite recipes with National Geographic Food.
Mushrooms With Alentejo-Style Chickpeas
Recipe also available in Nun Mendes cook book Lisboeta: recipes from Portugal’s city of light
Cogumelos com puré de grão à alentejana (Mushrooms with alentejo-style chickpeas)
SERVES: 4 AS A SIDE
TAKES: 45 MINS
The mushroom season is much enjoyed in Lisbon. I’ve stuck to only a few varieties in this recipe, which means it can be made throughout the year. The purée is based on another commonly used ingredient in Portuguese cooking: the chickpea. It’s super tasty and will find its way into other dishes.
INGREDIENTS
For the chickpea purée
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 200g tinned plum tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained (liquid reserved); or 160g dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked (cooking liquid reserved)
• freshly squeezed lemon juice
• smoked paprika, to taste
• sea salt flakes and white pepper
• extra virgin olive oil, to serve
For the mushrooms
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 150g whole portobello mushrooms
• 20g vegan butter
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 150g oyster mushrooms
• splash dry white wine
• small handful parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• freshly squeezed lemon juice
METHOD
- To make the purée, heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 10 mins, or until soft. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Season with sea salt, pepper and paprika. Add the tomatoes and increase the heat to cook until caramelised.
- Add the chickpeas and cook to warm through. Pour in 150–200ml of chickpea liquid and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 mins, or until the chickpeas are starting to fall apart. Season to taste and add a dash of lemon juice. Remove from the heat and purée briefly with a stick blender.
- For the mushrooms: heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Season. Add the portobellos and cook for 3 mins on each side, or until golden. Remove from the pan. Reduce the heat, add the butter and garlic and cook gently until soft and fragrant.
- Return the portobellos to the pan. Increase the heat, then add the oysters and cook 1-2 mins, basting with the butter. Add the wine and cook for 1 min more. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley with a squeeze of lemon juice. Drizzle the chickpea purée with extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of paprika and serve it alongside the mushrooms.
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