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Creamy mushroom sauce

Sauce · European

Creamy mushroom sauce

Golden chestnut mushrooms, garlic and thyme in a light cream sauce. Made in one pan in 20 minutes.

20 min Serves 4 European Kid friendly

Creamy mushroom sauce is a quick, comforting sauce that suits almost anything. Chestnut mushrooms are fried until golden, then garlic, thyme, stock and cream go in. The whole sauce is made in one pan in 20 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 250 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced; wipe them clean rather than washing
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 20 g butter
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic, clove, finely chopped
  • 3 sprig thyme, leaves picked, or ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 100 ml chicken stock
  • 150 ml double cream
  • salt, to taste
  • black pepper, to taste

Method

  1. Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan (about 28cm) over a medium-high heat until the butter foams. Add the mushrooms in one layer and leave them for 2 minutes, then stir and fry until their liquid has cooked away and they are golden at the edges, 6 to 8 minutes in all. A wide pan gives them room to brown.
  2. Turn the heat to medium. Add the shallot, garlic, thyme and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until the shallot is soft and the garlic smells fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
  3. Pour in the stock and let it bubble, scraping the bottom of the pan, until it has reduced by about half, about 2 minutes. The stock lifts the browned flavour off the pan and into the sauce.
  4. Stir in the cream, turn the heat to low and simmer until the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and plenty of black pepper.
  5. Goes best with chicken and pork: spoon it over a pan-fried chicken breast, slices of our Sunday roast chicken or pork chops, with mash or rice. It also suits steak, and makes a quick pasta sauce loosened with a little pasta water. It keeps for 2 days in the fridge.

Tips

  • Do not crowd the pan. Piled-up mushrooms steam and turn grey instead of golden.
  • Salt the mushrooms only once they have browned; salted early, they release water and stew.
  • For a vegetarian sauce, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

Common questions

Can I make it without cream?

Use crème fraîche, stirred in over a low heat, or for a lighter sauce, more stock thickened with a teaspoon of cornflour mixed in a little cold water.

Which mushrooms are best?

Chestnut mushrooms have more flavour than white button mushrooms. Mixed wild mushrooms make a richer sauce for a special dinner.