Vegan Christmas Gravy

A vegan gravy has to build its savoury depth from scratch because there is no roasting tin doing the work. Dried mushrooms, a proper onion caramelisation and a spoonful of miso get you most of the way there, and a splash of red wine finishes the job. Make it in advance, because it improves overnight.

Ingredients

Makes about 900ml, enough for eight plates

• 20g (3/4oz) dried porcini mushrooms
• 300ml (10fl oz) boiling water for soaking
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 3 large onions about 500g, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves sliced
• 2 sprigs rosemary leaves finely chopped
• 4 tbsp (60g) plain flour
• 150ml (5fl oz) red wine check it is vegan
• 700ml (1 1/4 pints) strong vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp brown miso paste
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• sea salt and black pepper

Kit

• Wide heavy pan
• Small bowl
• Whisk
• Fine sieve

Method

1. Cover the porcini with the boiling water and leave them for twenty minutes. Lift the mushrooms out and chop them finely, then let the soaking liquid settle and pour off the clear liquid, leaving the last tablespoon of grit behind. Keep both.

2. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan and add the onions with a good pinch of salt. Cook over a medium low heat for twenty five minutes, stirring every few minutes, until they are deep gold and jammy. This is the flavour base and there is no shortcut, so put the radio on.

3. Add the garlic, rosemary and the chopped porcini and cook for another five minutes, letting the mushrooms fry in the oil rather than just warming through. They should start to smell properly meaty.

4. Stir in the flour and cook it for three minutes over a medium heat. Without butter the roux is slower to take colour, so give it the full three minutes and keep it moving so it does not stick.

5. Pour in the wine and stir hard as it thickens and bubbles. Scrape the base clean and let it reduce for three minutes until the raw wine smell has gone entirely.

6. Add the porcini soaking liquid and the vegetable stock in three additions, whisking each until smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook for fifteen minutes, stirring, until it coats the back of a spoon.

7. Whisk the miso into a little of the hot gravy in a small bowl first, so it disperses rather than clumping, then stir it back in. Add the soy and balsamic off the heat, taste and season. Strain it for a smooth gravy or leave the onions and mushrooms in for a rougher one.

Tips worth knowing

• Add the miso off the boil. Boiling it hard flattens the flavour and makes it taste more like salt than miso.
• Do not pour the last of the mushroom soaking water in. Dried porcini carry grit and it settles in the bottom of the bowl, so leave that behind.
• This is the one Christmas gravy that is genuinely better made a day or two ahead. The onion, mushroom and miso settle together and it goes from good to very good.
• If you are cooking it alongside a meat gravy, use a separate pan, spoon and sieve. It matters to the person you are cooking for even if it seems fussy to you.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps five days in the fridge, longer than most gravies because there is no meat or dairy in it, and freezes for three months. Cool quickly in a shallow tray. Reheat to a rolling boil with a splash of stock, since it thickens considerably as it sits.

Questions people ask