Found in an old autumnal Gourmet Traveller magazine, here is a simple recipe that highlights the best of seasonal mushrooms.
When you are craving a solid mushroom hit, this will hit the spot.
Pictured: Mushroom and ricotta galette2 sheets of puff pastry – Pampas is the most common brand in the freezer section. Carême is the absolute best though, but more expensive. If using Carême you can roll out the large sheet a little thinner to 3mm thick for this recipe.
30g butter, coarsely chopped
2 golden shallots, finely chopped – or ½ a red onion, or a bunch of green onions
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
250g tub ricotta
50g gruyère cheese, coarsely grated –you could substitute with emmental or jarlsberg
2 tbsp each – fresh thyme, oregano and flat-leaf parsley – finely chopped
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, juice of ½
1 egg, lightly beaten
200g mixed mushrooms, thickly sliced
Pictured : Carême puff pastryPreheat oven to 200 °C.
Lightly flour a surface to roll out pastry to 3mm thick. Cut out 2 x 15cm diameter rounds, rough shape.
Line an oven tray with baking paper, lay the pastry on top, and if feeling too soft from rolling place it in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Place the cheeses, herbs, rind and half the egg into a large mixing bowl.
Melt 20g of the butter in a small saucepan, add the shallots/onions and garlic, cook gently for a few minutes until the onion is soft and translucent – transfer to the mixing bowl.
Season to taste then spread evenly over the two pastry rounds, leaving a 3cm border.
Melt the remaining butter in a small saucepan, remove from heat and add the lemon juice, season as well.
Scatter the sliced mushrooms over the ricotta mix, drizzle with the butter, and fold in the pastry edges, pleating a little as you go.
Brush the edges with the other half of the egg.
Bake 20 – 25 minutes until the galette is crisp and golden. Do not bake longer as the mushrooms will start to wilt and leak their juices, makeing the pastry soggy.
Serve hot.
Serves 4
Pictured: Mushroom and ricotta galette ready for baking