Millet and mushroom risotto cake

The mild sweetness and nutty flavour of millet goes so well with earthy plump mushrooms and fresh herbs. I like this light but filling, protein-rich savoury cake at lunchtime or supper with a big green salad. Plus, it works well the next morning with sliced avocado, keeping you fuelled until lunch time.

Ingredients (serves 8–10 with salad)

180g wholegrain millet

1tbsp coconut oil or EVCP rapeseed oil

1 garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

1L vegetable stock, homemade or made with 2 good-quality vegetable stock cubes

500g mixed mushrooms, such as chestnut, buna shimeji, golden enoki and shiitake, chopped

10 sage leaves, finely chopped, plus

15–20 whole sage leaves for topping

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Generous grating of nutmeg

1tsp nutritional yeast flakes

Coarse sea salt

Black pepper

4 eggs

20g parsley, finely chopped, plus extra for garnishing

Method

Soak the millet in 500ml of filtered water with one teaspoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar for 8–12 hours or overnight, then drain and rinse well.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. In a 30cm oven-proof frying pan, at least 5cm deep, melt the oil and then add the garlic and onion, cooking on a medium-high heat for about three minutes, until

they are starting to brown. Add the millet and stir in – you will notice a nutty flavour developing. Add 250ml of stock, stir in and simmer for five minutes or until the stock has been absorbed. Add half of the mushrooms along with 250ml more stock. Let the millet soak up all of the liquids and then add another 250ml, again stirring until it has all been soaked up.

Gradually add the rest of the stock, in two batches, and stir in. With the last batch of stock, add the rest of the mushrooms, chopped sage leaves, lemon zest, nutmeg, yeast flakes and seasoning. Cook for about five more minutes, stirring and testing it until it is soft but slightly al dente and all the stock has been absorbed.

Remove from the heat, taste and add extra seasoning if necessary. In a large bowl, mix the eggs with the parsley. Gradually add about a quarter of the mushroom millet mix at a time to the eggs, stirring well to combine.

When everything has been mixed together, tip it all back into the frying pan, evening out the top with a palette knife, top with the whole sage leaves and bake in the oven for about 10–20 minutes until set but with a slight shake.

Serve warm from the oven, sprinkled with extra chopped parsley. Any leftovers will keep well in the fridge for up to three days.

This recipe is taken from Clean Cakes by Henrietta Inman (published by Jacqui Small).