Balsamic Mushroom & Lemon Ricotta Quinoa Salad

Balsamic Mushroom & Lemon Ricotta Quinoa Salad

◷ Prep Time 10 min

⌕ Cook Time 30 min

◷ Total Time 40 min

♟ Serves 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 cup of ricotta
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup of walnuts
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 ½ cups quinoa
• 3 cups of vegetable stock
• 100g butter
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 200g Meadow Portabello Mushrooms, sliced into 2cm thick pieces
• 400g Meadow White Button Mushrooms, quartered
• 5 large garlic cloves, roughly diced
• 7g thyme or 10 large sprigs
• pinch of chilli flakes
• ¼ white wine
• ¼ tomato puree
• 1 ½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 zucchini
• 1 cup of Italian parsley – chopped

Method

1. 1

   Mix together the ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil. Set aside.

2. 2

   Fry the walnuts in a dry pan until they are lightly toasted. Turn off the heat and add in the maple syrup, mix it around and then tip onto a plate lined with baking paper.

3. 3

   Get the quinoa cooking with the vegetable stock. Put the lid on and let it simmer on a low heat.

4. 4

   Melt the butter in a large pan and 1 tbsp of olive oil, add in all of the mushrooms, season well and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped garlic, and thyme leaves - leave on the stalks on as you can pull these out at the end.

5. 5

   Add a splash more oil if needed, a pinch of chili flakes and the wine, let this bubble away for a few minutes.

6. 6

   Now add the tomato puree and balsamic, mix well and let everything bubble away on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

7. 7

   Using a peeler, ribbon the zucchini, chop the parsley and the toasted walnuts.

8. 8

   Once the mushrooms & quinoa are cooked, mix them together with half of the parsley and the zucchini.

9. 9

   Put everything onto a serving platter and top with the remaining parsley, walnuts and then spoon over the ricotta.

MADE WITH