Opies Pickled Walnuts Recipe: Mushroom Stew

Opies pickled walnuts recipes are few and far between, especially when you’re looking for something vegetarian. Before creating this recipe, I had only had pickled walnuts on their own as part of a buffet. I’d never thought of cooking with them. When I looked for recipes, lots of people were using them with a meaty stew. I could see the attraction, the pickled walnuts would cut through a flavourful broth and give it some extra depth. So, this is a vegetarian take on a stew with pickled walnuts.

Opies pickled walnuts recipe: A vegetarian stew with basic ingredients

We’re vegetarian and eat vegan as much as possible. So, I decided to create a “meaty” stew that was completely meat-free. This stew uses mushrooms, soy sauce and marmite to give it a meaty flavour. Fleshy, plant-based ingredients even look like meat and the Opies pickled walnuts lend a distinctive taste. It’s a simple, experimental recipe that has turned out really well.

The other thing about this opies pickled walnuts recipe is that the ingredients are basic and easy to get hold of. You can use any type of mushrooms and it’s worth experimenting with different sorts to see which you prefer. Tinned jackfruit is readily available in the supermarket, with the tinned vegetables. If you can’t find it, tinned chickpeas would be a good replacement. The lentils and beans can also be substituted for something else if you prefer. Opies pickled walnuts can be purchased at all major supermarkets. Find out more about these and their other products on the Opies Foods website.

Opies pickled walnuts veggie stew recipe: Ingredients

• Tablespoonful of vegetable oil
• One large onion, chopped
• One clove of garlic, finely chopped
• One large carrot or a few smaller ones, chopped
• 300g mushrooms (I used a mixture of shiitake, oyster and eryngi but whatever you have will be fine)
• 100ml red wine (optional)
• Generous dash of soy sauce
• 1 pint of vegetable stock (add an extra 1/4 pint if you’re not using wine)
• Pinch of black pepper
• 400g tin of shredded jackfruit
• 400g tin of lentils
• 400g tin of mixed beans
• Teaspoon of marmite
• Jar of Opies Pickled Walnuts (390g, drained weight 170g)

Method

• Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil over a medium heat in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened.
• Add the mushrooms and carrots. You can chop the mushrooms first but I prefer to leave them whole. This will depend on the variety you use.
• Leave to cook for about a minute, you should start to smell the mushrooms.
• Add 100ml of red wine or vegetable stock and a generous dash of soy sauce. Simmer for a couple of minutes.
• Add one pint of vegetable stock and a pinch of pepper. No salt is required in this recipe because both soy sauce and marmite are slightly salty.
• Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer for five minutes.
• Add a teaspoon of marmite and drain and add the jackfruit, lentils and beans.
• Simmer for a further five minutes.
• Add the quartered pickled walnuts and two tablespoons of the pickling vinegar from the jar.
• Simmer for five minutes.
• Use a ladle to spoon the stew into bowls and serve with crusty bread.

Other vegetarian recipes

If you are looking for other vegetarian recipes, you might like this veggie chilli or you could check out my review of Mindful Chef recipe boxes. If you’ve never tried cooking rice in the oven, check out this one-pot recipe. Since my children became vegetarian, we’ve been cooking exclusively veggie meals here. So it’s always good to have a quick veggie dessert option too, like these tasty cinnamon rolls.