Savory Cauliflower and Mushroom Breakfast Porridge
Cauliflower simmered down in bone broth and beaten smooth with olive oil, spooned under hard-browned mushrooms with thyme, lemon, and parsley for a savory morning porridge.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is the recipe I wrote for the person who has spent three weeks eating sweet breakfasts and would trade all of them for something that tastes like dinner. It is a porridge in shape and in the way you eat it, warm and smooth and spooned, but everything about the flavor is savory. I make it on cold mornings and on the mornings after a late night, when chewing feels like a lot to ask. It takes about forty minutes, and the smell of mushrooms browning in olive oil at seven in the morning is worth most of that on its own.
Two techniques carry the whole dish. The first is cooking the cauliflower far past what you would normally do to a vegetable, in just enough broth to come halfway up, until the florets fall apart when you press them and the broth has reduced to almost nothing. That reduction is where the savoriness lives. The second is browning the mushrooms properly, which means a hot dry pan first, no oil and no crowding, until they squeak and give up their water, and only then the olive oil and garlic. Mushrooms added to oil straight away steam in their own liquid and stay pale and rubbery.
The finish is olive oil beaten into the hot puree, which turns it glossy and gives it a richness you would swear came from cream. I use more oil than feels reasonable and I would not cut it, since it is what makes the bowl hold you until lunch. Lemon goes on at the very end, off the heat, because it lifts everything and keeps a soft dish from tasting flat. Leftovers are excellent, and the puree can be made a day ahead in full. Brown the mushrooms fresh in the morning if you can, since that is the ten minutes that makes it taste new.
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 lb), cut into small florets
- 12 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 2 1/2 cups chicken bone broth
- 2 shallots, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt, divided
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables: Cut the cauliflower into small florets, no bigger than a walnut, so they cook evenly and break down quickly. Slice the mushrooms a quarter inch thick, mince the shallots, and slice the garlic.
- Simmer the cauliflower: Put the florets in a saucepan with the bone broth, half the shallot, and a quarter teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 15 to 18 minutes, until a floret collapses under the back of a spoon. Uncover for the last 5 minutes so the broth reduces.
- Brown the mushrooms: Heat a wide skillet over medium-high with no oil in it. Add the mushrooms in a single layer and leave them for 4 minutes, until they release their water and it hisses away. Stir, cook 3 minutes more, then add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the remaining shallot, the garlic, and the thyme, and cook 3 minutes until deeply browned.
- Make the porridge: Blend the cauliflower and its remaining broth with an immersion blender until smooth, about a minute, or mash hard with a potato masher for a rougher, more rustic texture. It should mound softly on a spoon rather than pour.
- Beat in the oil: Off the heat, beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil a little at a time until the porridge turns glossy and slightly loose. Add the lemon juice and the rest of the salt, and taste. If it has gone stiff while you worked, loosen it with a splash of hot broth.
- Build the bowls: Spoon the porridge into four wide bowls and hollow the center of each with the back of the spoon. Pile the mushrooms and all their pan juices into the hollows and scatter the parsley over the top.
Variations
- Mixed mushrooms: Use half cremini and half oyster or shiitake caps for more texture and a woodsier smell as they brown.
- Celeriac porridge: Swap half the cauliflower for peeled celeriac, which gives a sweeter, more perfumed base and a slightly thicker spoon.
- Bacon start: Render two slices of bacon and brown the mushrooms in that fat, crumbling the bacon over the finished bowls.
- Greens folded in: Wilt a large handful of chopped kale into the mushrooms at the very end for color and a little chew.
- Beef broth version: Use beef bone broth instead of chicken for a darker, deeper bowl that suits a cold morning.
Storage & Leftovers
The porridge and the mushrooms keep separately in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Kept apart, the mushrooms stay firm and the puree stays smooth. Stored together they weep, and by the second morning you have a gray bowl that tastes fine and looks like nothing you want to eat.
Reheat the porridge in a saucepan over low with a splash of broth, whisking as it warms, about 4 minutes. Warm the mushrooms in a dry skillet for 2 minutes so they crisp again at the edges rather than sitting damp. Add fresh lemon and parsley each time you serve it.
The puree freezes for up to 3 months and comes back well with a hard whisk and a little extra broth. Do not freeze the mushrooms, which turn to slippery threads on thawing. They take ten minutes to cook fresh and that is where most of the flavor is.
Notes & Tips
- Small florets, less broth: Cut them small and use only enough broth to come halfway up. Cauliflower gives off water of its own as it cooks.
- Dry pan first: Mushrooms must lose their water before they meet oil. Four minutes in a bare hot skillet is the difference between browned and boiled.
- Do not crowd the mushrooms: A single layer with space around each slice is what browns. Two batches costs 5 minutes and changes the taste of the whole bowl.
- Beat the oil in off the heat: Whisked into hot puree away from the burner, the olive oil emulsifies and stays glossy rather than pooling on the surface.
- Reduce before you blend: The last 5 minutes uncovered concentrates the broth. Blending too early gives you a thin puree that no amount of stirring will save.
- Lemon at the end: Acid added to a simmering pan goes dull. Off the heat it stays sharp, and it is what keeps a soft savory bowl from tasting flat.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Cauliflower, mushrooms, and a good broth build the whole bowl. The cauliflower gives it the soft body, the mushrooms give it the dark savory flavor, and the broth cooked down underneath both is what keeps it from tasting like a plain vegetable puree.
- Cauliflower simmered until it collapses turns mild and creamy, and it still brings vitamin C and a useful amount of fiber along with the glucosinolates that give cruciferous vegetables their faint sweet-sulfur smell in the pot.
- Mushrooms browned hard in a dry pan concentrate into something dark and almost meaty, and they carry B vitamins along with selenium, which is unusual in a vegetable and part of why they taste so satisfying.
- Olive oil beaten into the hot puree is what makes this glossy and rich, and the monounsaturated fat in it is a large part of why a bowl of vegetables and broth actually holds you through a morning.
- Thyme, sliced garlic, and lemon are the three notes that keep this awake. The garlic softens into the mushrooms, the thyme perfumes the pan, and the lemon goes on off the heat where it stays bright rather than turning dull.
- As you eat, notice the difference between the smooth spoonfuls and the chewy browned mushrooms in the middle, and give the bowl your full attention for a few minutes before the day starts asking for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a blender instead of an immersion blender?
Yes, but work in two batches and vent the lid, since hot puree expands and will lift the top off. A countertop blender gives you a silkier result. Cauliflower has no starch to turn gummy, so you cannot overwork it the way you can a potato.
My porridge tastes watery. What went wrong?
There was too much broth left in the pan when you blended. Simmer it uncovered for another 5 to 8 minutes to drive the liquid off, then blend again. The broth reducing down against the cauliflower is the entire savory backbone of the dish.
Can I add meat to this?
It takes well to it. Brown 3/4 lb of ground pork or chicken with the mushrooms, or lay a few slices of leftover roast beef over the top. The bowl as written is vegetable and broth, so a protein alongside makes it a bigger breakfast.
Does this fit an AIP elimination phase?
It does. Cauliflower, mushrooms, alliums, thyme, lemon, and olive oil are all in bounds, and there are no grains, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, or nightshades here. Check your bone broth label for pepper or yeast extract, which are the two that usually turn up.