No, not that kind you dirty hippie. This involves cremini mushrooms, not the type that will have you conversing with your carpet, or searching for your nearest drum circle.
I have some carnivorous tendencies that are somewhat hard to curb. Today was a well-needed day literally veg out, and I wanted to cook/eat something fast and satisfying, yet avoiding heavy meat intake (pause?). This dish is fast, and very easy on the wallet.
Here goes.
First off- put out the nag champa and check your fridge’s inventory. I hate going to the market and buying a load of stuff, only to come home to find exact duplicates chilling in the fridge. In case you’re low on everything, here’s a shopping list:
1 lb. cremini mushrooms
1 head garlic
1 jar of capers (near the pickles)
butter, unsalted
1 lemon
1 bunch parsley (flat)
1 shallot
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Olive oil
Chilil flakes
Something to eat them with- a baguette works perfectly.
When you’re ready to get busy, preheat your oven to 450F and position the rack to the middle. Take out a small oven-friendly casserole (corning ware, a sauté pan w/metal handles, etc). This dish takes one vessel to cook in.
Clean your mushrooms, then cut to the desired size. I tend to cut mine into quarters since the supermarket ones are pretty huge. Throw ‘em into a bowl. Mince up about 6-8 heads of garlic and throw those in too. Follow it up with about 1-2 TB of capers, crushed or chopped. Yep, into the same bowl, along with some thinly sliced shallot. Add in a few healthy pinches of salt, and about 5-6 grinds of pepper. Oh, and add in some chili flakes too.
Drizzle a little olive oil over the top, and mix with your hands. You washed them, right?
Pour the mixture into whatever you’re going to use for roasting. Cut about 3-4 TB of butter into cubes, and sprinkle them on top.
If the oven is at temp, throw it in. Roast it for around 15-20 minutes, stirring once.
Once you take it out of the oven, give it a good squeeze of lemon and toss in a good handful of chopped parsley. Hopefully you took my advice and grabbed a fresh baguette to eat with this- perfect sopping-up-the-sawse (intentional, thanks) opportunity here.
I forgot to buy one, so I settled on some pasta w/a few of my Mom’s tomatoes thrown in.
