Lemon and Thyme Mushrooms Might Become Your New Favourite Antipasto
Welcome to the twelfth instalment of my series where I test out recipes from an obscure 1990s Italian cookbook. This time, I tried another dish from the ‘Antipasto’ section: Marinated Mushrooms (Funghi Marinati).
This recipe really piqued my curiosity as I wondered what on earth ‘marinated mushrooms’ were, and what I would use them for. Like the Boozy Blood Oranges from the tenth instalment, this was another rather obscure recipe with limited information available online – although I did discover that they are more characteristic of Polish cuisine, rather than Italian – thank you, Wikipedia.
The serving suggestion offered by the book didn’t do much to resolve the mystery and was rather unusual; stirred though a salad, the type of which was unspecified. I was, however, still determined to give them a bash, and the end result was surprisingly delightful.
I did, however, make quite a lot of alterations to the ingredients and the method:
- The thought of eating raw mushrooms is quite frightening to me so I opted for roasting them in the oven first before adding them to the marinade.
- I used quite a bit more oil than the recipe recommended to fully cover and preserve the mushrooms. No type of oil was specified either, so I just used extra-virgin olive oil.
- I switched out tarragon as I love the combination of lemon and thyme. I also omitted the addition of parsley as I didn’t think it necessary, but I welcome you to experiment with different herbs and citruses.
- The recipe called for 3 teaspoons of lemon juice but I dislike this instruction – it’s such a faff to squeeze and measure out, and since we aren’t baking here, this level of accuracy isn’t really needed. I found that the juice of half a lemon amounted to the same quantity but you can of course adjust this to your own preferences.
- I increased ¼ teaspoon of salt to ½, but again, you can adjust this to your own taste.
Overall, this antipasto was incredibly quick and simple to make. Delicious eaten either cold or warm, I heated the mushrooms slightly and served them on top of some toasted Italian Bread from instalment eight, finishing with a generous grating of parmesan.
FINAL RECIPE RATING: 7/10
I encourage you to get creative yourself by tossing them through pasta, risotto, or spooning on top of some polenta. Or even, dare I say, a salad…
Lemon and Thyme Mushroom Preserve
Ingredients
- 250 button mushrooms sliced thinly
- Juice of half a lemon
- 150 ml extra-virgin olive oil extra to cook
- 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves picked
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Extra salt and pepper to season the mushrooms
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ gas oven/180℃ fan and drizzle a baking tray with some of the extra oil.
- Place the mushrooms onto the prepared tray and toss with some salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for around 15 minutes or until cooked and golden brown. Let them cool completely.
- To make the marinade, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, measured salt, and some extra pepper in a medium sized bowl.
- Once the mushrooms are cool, add them to the marinade and stir well [see notes]
- Spoon into a sterilised jar or tub and seal tightly. Store in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight [see notes]
- Serve on top of some toasted bread for bruschetta, a bowl of polenta, or risotto [see blog post for more serving suggestions]
Notes
- If you find that a lot of water has been released from the mushrooms after cooking them, drain this away before adding to the marinade.
- If there are mushrooms poking above the oil, top up with some more so that they are completely submerged.
- These will last at least a week in the fridge and the flavour will only improve with time!
- There will be a lot of oil leftover when you finish the mushrooms – you can use this as a salad dressing or even to cook with.
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