MUSHROOM MOQUECA

The traditional Brazilian moqueca stew is made with fish and is lovely. But when I made it with mushrooms instead, I thought it better. The strong flavours of the peppers, tomatoes, garlic and fried plantain rather overwhelm the seafood, but the mushrooms have the oomph to hold their own. It makes a good lunch dish, rather like a substantial soup. I like it with rice or mashed potatoes, but in Brazil it was served on its own and we ate it with a spoon.

Serves 4

250g (9oz) chestnut mushrooms, sliced

200g (7oz) oyster mushrooms, sliced

3tbsp coconut oil

4 spring onions, green and white parts kept separate, chopped

1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 1 heaped tsp smoked paprika 4 plum tomatoes

300ml (10fl oz) unsweetened coconut cream

1 plantain or green banana, sliced into 1cm (½in) rounds

Salt and black pepper

Juice of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve

A handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Fry the mushrooms in 1tbsp coconut oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat until tender. Lift them out into a bowl, add 1tbsp coconut oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Fry the white parts of the spring onions and the red pepper until soft, then add the garlic, chilli and paprika to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Peel the tomatoes: using a sharp knife, cut a small slit in the skin of each tomato. Bring a pan of water to the boil, plunge in the tomatoes and leave for 15-20 seconds, until the skin starts to peel back where you made the slit. Lift them out and drop them into cold water to prevent overcooking, which would result in some of the flesh coming off as well as the skin. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin, cut each in half, and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard. Cut into wedges.

Add the tomatoes to the spring onion and peppers in the pan and cook on a gentle heat, covered, for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft. Stir in the mushrooms and their juices, along with the coconut cream, gently stirring to combine.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1tbsp coconut oil in a separate frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the plantain slices for 1 minute on each side, until golden.

Taste and season the moqueca with salt and pepper. Stir in the lime juice. Tip into a warm serving bowl, and sprinkle the coriander and green parts of the spring onions over the top. Serve with the lime wedges and fried plantain.