Creamy mushrooms

Feel free to use this recipe with any good eating mushrooms you can get your hands on. I’ve noticed that it seems to be compulsory around the world to cook wild mushrooms simply, in a pan with butter, oil, garlic, some sort of herb, salt and pepper. I can’t argue with that method – it does give delicious results – but the nice thing about this recipe is that with all the juices that naturally cook out of the mushrooms and mix with the butter, you only need to add a touch of cream to get a sauce that gives the illusion of being really creamy when it’s actually not.

Creamy mushrooms. Credit: Jamie's Food Escapes

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• a small rustic loaf of bread, to serve
• 350 g chanterelles or other mushrooms
• a small bunch of fresh curly parsley
• 30 g butter
• olive oil
• ½ red onion, peeled and finely sliced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 150 ml single cream
• 1 lemon

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to its lowest setting and pop the loaf of bread in to warm through. Spend a few minutes gently brushing along the underside of the mushrooms to get rid of any bugs and dirt that might be hiding there. This is well worth the effort. Finely chop your parsley, stalks and all, reserving a few of the leaves.
2. Put the butter into a large hot pan and as soon as it starts to melt add a drizzle of olive oil, the mushrooms, sliced onion and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir everything around and cook for about 8 minutes, or until the onions have softened and the mushrooms are starting to caramelise and take on colour.
3. Add the chopped parsley, then pour in the cream. Continue to stir and cook for another minute, until the cream has come to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for a minute before removing from the heat. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice, have a taste, and add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if it needs it. Take your bread out of the oven and tear it into big chunks. Divide the mushrooms between your plates and scatter over the reserved parsley leaves. Serve with your chunks of bread on the side to mop up all the creamy mushroomy juices, and tuck in!

Note

This is a small snack or a lovely little starter. I think this is best served bubbling in the pan with some chunks of bread, but it could also become a layer in a lasagne, be spooned over steak or pork, get tossed with pasta or be paired with beef strips and rice for a sort of stroganoff. What a treat.

 

Recipe from: Jamie's Food Escapes © 2009 Jamie Oliver

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.