Mushroom sauce

A creamy Czech mushroom sauce with onion and parsley, ladled over bread dumplings — earthy, vegetarian comfort in about 45 minutes.

Ingredients

• mushrooms400 g
• cream200 ml
• onion1 pcs
• plain flour30 g
• parsley1 bunch
• bread dumpling6 slices

Method

1. Prep your ingredients. Finely dice the onion, thickly slice the mushrooms, and roughly chop the parsley. Having everything ready before you start makes this quick sauce straightforward to pull together.
2. Soften the onion. Melt a knob of butter in a wide pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent but not browned.
3. Cook the mushrooms. Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the mushrooms, and cook for 8–10 minutes until they've released their liquid and that liquid has evaporated — the mushrooms should be golden and smell deeply earthy.
4. Add flour and stir. Scatter the flour over the mushrooms and stir continuously for 1–2 minutes so the raw flour taste cooks out and everything is well coated.
5. Pour in the cream. Add the cream gradually, stirring as you go to avoid lumps, then season well with salt and pepper. Let the sauce simmer gently for 8–10 minutes until it thickens to a consistency that coats the back of a spoon.
6. Finish with parsley. Take the pan off the heat and stir in most of the chopped parsley, saving a little to scatter over at the end. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
7. Warm the dumplings. Slice the bread dumplings about 1.5 cm thick if not already sliced and warm them through — steam them for 3–4 minutes or reheat briefly in a pan with a splash of water until heated through and slightly fluffy.
8. Plate and serve. Arrange the dumpling slices on each plate, ladle the mushroom sauce generously over the top, and finish with the reserved fresh parsley.

Safety & hygiene Important

• Mushroom spoilage risk. Use fresh mushrooms that smell clean and earthy — discard any that are slimy, have dark wet patches, or smell unpleasant, as deteriorating mushrooms can cause stomach upset.
• Reheating starchy dumplings. If you're working with pre-cooked or leftover bread dumplings, cool them quickly, refrigerate promptly, and reheat thoroughly until piping hot all the way through — never leave cooked starchy foods at room temperature for more than two hours.