Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of Super Mario Odyssey, and that has inspired me to make a dish based on Mario’s mushroom enemies, The Goombas, for this month’s geeky recipe.

 

The Goombas’ looks are based on shiitake mushrooms, and are some of the most common enemies in the Mario games.

So what’s the best way to deal with baddies such as these?

Eh, throw ’em in a stew!

 

The Recipe

For four portions:

1. Measure up 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 35 grams of flour, 1 yellow onion, 1 green paprika, 2 celery sticks, 2 cloves of garlic, 200 grams of smoked italian sausage, 1 tablespoon oregano, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, 1 bay leaf, 800 grams of diced tomatoes, 1 liter chicken broth, 3 spring onions and 500 grams shiitake mushrooms.

2. Chop the vegetables, and the sausage, in whatever size you want.

3. Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the oil and flour. Stir constantly. After about 10 minutes, the mixture should be dark caramel colored.

4. Add the mushrooms, fry them until they shrink a bit.

5. Add all onions, the paprika and the celery sticks. Fry for another 5 minutes.

6. Add the sausage, spices, herbs, bay leaf, diced tomatoes and chicken broth.

7. Bring the gumbo to a boil, then reduce the heat.

8. Simmer for about one hour, until the gumbo has thickened

9. Cook some rice, to the specifications on the packaging.

10. Peel and devein 600 grams of shrimp. This should add up to about 300 grams of peeled shrimp.

11. If you are using raw shrimp, add them to the gumbo in the last 10 minutes of cooking. If you are using cooked pink shrimp, like I was using, add them in at the very last minute.

12. Plate up! Serve the gumbo in a bowl, with rice in the bottom.

Take that, Bowser!