A flavorful saucy oven baked ragout with juicy roasted mushrooms and white beans. The addition of olives, lemon and rosemary gives this recipe a stand out flavor and there is minimal work involved. The ragout itself is vegan, but crumbled feta is the perfect topping if you don’t need it to be dairy free.
It’s all about easygoing, humble, warming comfort food today with this vegetarian ragout. But despite its simplicity, it really packs a punch.
“Ragout” is a French term for a saucy stew (unlike the Italian “ragu” which is more of a chunky sauce) but although I am using that term here, the flavors in this dish have strayed from the traditional and more towards the Mediterranean side. We have lemon, kalamata olives and rosemary making it pop, as well as a tiny bit of cumin and cinnamon in the sauce. I like to put some crumbled feta on top, which is the perfect finishing touch, but won’t be missed if you want to make this vegan.
Oven baking this ragout is a win/win: an easier workflow and a deeper flavor for the mushrooms and onions. It does take an hour but it’s relaxed and easy. There’s not too much chopping, not too many ingredients, and no technique beyond just adding things to the pan in a few different stages.
You can serve this with fresh bread or some kind of grain (couscous, polenta, etc) for a super simple but satisfying dinner.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Any mushrooms will do the job here. I prefer smaller mushrooms which can be left whole, but portobellos cut into strips will do nicely too.
- Any white beans such as cannellini beans, navy beans or butter beans will work. They aren’t white, but borlotti beans could also slot in well.
- Kalamata olives are my top pick but green or black olives are fine too.
- I use fresh rosemary but you can swap in dried (you could just use 1/2 teaspoon of dried).
- A handful of kale (any type – lacinato kale / cavolo nero, baby kale or curly kale all work) is my choice of “something green” but feel free to use spinach if you prefer.
- I find that higher quality canned tomatoes will make a difference in this recipe, so get the best available in your budget.
Variations
- Make it vegan: The feta cheese is the only thing that stops this recipe being vegan, and you can definitely leave that out. You don’t have to replace it with anything, but if you do want to add a little something else as a topping, try vegan yogurt, tzatziki, baba ganoush or a tahini sauce (the sauce in this smashed potatoes recipe would work well).
- Replace the crumbled feta with fried or grilled halloumi for something more meaty and substantial (this should also help stretch the portion sizes if you want to feed more people).
- Make it spicy by adding some chili pepper flakes or a spoonful of harissa paste to the sauce.
Meal Prepping and Leftovers
This is a great dish to prep ahead because the leftover ragout will just get tastier and tastier!
Store in the fridge for 4-5 days and the freezer for 4-6 months. Reheat in the microwave or oven.
If you can avoid it, don’t add the feta until you go to serve it, because dairy products don’t keep and reheat quite as well. But if you are freezing a portion with feta, you should eat it a little sooner, more like 3-4 months.
Serve me with…
White Bean & Mushroom Ragout
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 10 oz (280 g) chestnut mushrooms, de-stemmed and wiped clean
- 1 small red onion, sliced into half moon shapes
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (70 g) Kalamata olives, chopped
- 2 tsps fresh rosemary, chopped
- 14 oz (400 g) canned white beans, drained
- 14 oz (400 g) canned diced or chopped tomatoes
- 1 lemon, for zesting and cutting into wedges
- 1 handful chopped kale
- ⅓ cup (50 g) crumbled feta cheese, optional topping
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200C / 400F.
- First, prepare the mushrooms and onions for roasting.Arrange the whole mushrooms and sliced onion in a wide shallow casserole dish. Try to keep the onions in their half-moon shapes rather than breaking up the individual slices, this will slow down their cooking time to align better with the mushrooms.The pan should be pretty much full, but still have the ingredients in one single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.3 tbsp olive oil, 10 oz chestnut mushrooms, 1 small red onion, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- Place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are browned and reduced and the onions are soft and browning at the edges.
- Next, we will add the garlic, rosemary and spices.Ensure you have everything measured out and ready to go, then remove the pan from the oven and very quickly mix in the garlic, rosemary, cumin and cinnamon. The residual heat in the pan will soften the garlic and bring out all the fragrances.4 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsps fresh rosemary, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Add the olives, canned tomatoes and white beans. Add a good amount of salt and pepper to taste. Mix through, cover, and place back in the oven for at 30 more minutes.1/2 cup Kalamata olives, 14 oz canned diced or chopped tomatoes, 14 oz canned white beans
- Add the kale and zest about 1/3rd of the lemon into the pan (about one teaspoon of zest). Give it all a good stir, cover it up again and place back in the oven for 5 more minutes to give the kale a chance to soften up.You can then cut the lemon into wedges for serving.1 handful chopped kale, 1 lemon
- Serve!Scatter with feta (if using) and add lemon wedges for squeezing, then serve with bread or cooked grains.1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese, 1 lemon
HI Christine. Love your tasty recipes but wish they relied less on beans and lentils. As someone with IBS I find those ingredients intolerable. Look forward to more recipes without those ingredients.