Substitute For Mushrooms In Coq Au Riesling

Our answer

Nigella's Coq Au Riesling (from NIGELLA EXPRESS here and on Nigella.com here) is a white wine version of the classic French dish coq au vin. Mushrooms and bacon are traditional in this dish but if younare allergic to mushrooms then it can be made by omitting the mushrooms. Extra leeks are a good substitute and any extra sauce can be used for pasta, maybe with some extra cooked bacon. Very thinly sliced fennel or sliced celery could be other alternatives and you would need to add them at the same time as the leek, so that they also soften in the bacon fat (and add a small splash of olive oil if there doesn't seem to be enough fat to cook the vegetables in).

If you like chestnuts then you could also try these in the Coq au Riesling. They have a slightly nutty flavour that comes with some mushrooms. It would be easiest to use the ready cooked peeled chestnuts that come vacuum packed, canned or in jars, and you may want to break them in half if they are large. Around 150g (6 ounces or about 1 heaping cup) should be enough. As the chestnuts are already cooked you can add them a couple of minutes before the end of the cooking time, so that they heat through before serving.