Baked oyster mushrooms, breaded with parmigiano, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic on a bed of arugola. A Terroni spinoff, this recipe is adapted from an incredible little group of restaurants in Toronto where I spent the better part of my early twenties. Definitely a beloved staple in our house. Easy, simple, delicious: Enjoy! xovic.
Ingredients:
- Oyster Mushrooms [about a bunch and a half per person]
- Breadcrumbs
- Parmigano [enough to thoroughly coat the top of your mushrooms, err on the generous side if need be]
- Garlic [one clove per person is what I usually do, but we do like it especially garlicky. Feel free to adjust depending on your tastes]
- Arugola
- Olive Oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to Taste
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Chop up your garlic. Here, I cut off each of the hard ends of each clove and smash it with the back of my chef’s knife. This does a great job of removing the peel, as well as getting all those tasty flavours out.
2. I try never to wash my mushrooms because they absorb so much water. Instead, cut off any dirty parts, and use a little brush to clean off any residual dirt. Usually though with oyster mushrooms, especially the organic ones from Wholefoods pictured here, dirt is incredibly minimal. At any rate, you want to cut off the stems: any hard parts that feel like they’d be gross to eat, because they really don’t soften up too much.
3. Grate your parm.
4. Line a baking pan with some aluminium. Some people don’t like to cook with aluminium, but for this recipe, the mushrooms and cheese are going to stick, so you’ll make your life much easier when it comes time to clean up if you line the baking sheet. Your call. Drizzle with olive oil, and spread across sheet.
5. Place trimmed mushrooms on tray. Drizzle again with olive oil and work in with your hands as much as you can, being careful to not break off too much of the delicate caps as you massage. I use this opportunity to mix in the garlic too.
6. Coat mushrooms in parmigiano, then breadcrumbs.
7. Salt (a couple pinches) and pepper thoroughly.
8. With all the trimmings, it should look like the above photo.
9. Pop it in the oven. In the meantime, plate your arugola.
10. Bake until top is brown and crispy as pictured below, approx 17-20 mins (although I am unsure of the exact time, because the top is heavily breaded, it’s rather easy to tell when it is sufficiently toasted. You’re going to want them to be crispy, not mushy, and that may mean some edges and corners get a little darker, but that’s fine).
11. Remove from oven. They are going to stick to the pan a bit, so have a metal spatula or something similar on the ready to scrape them off.
12. Place a portion on each bed of arugola. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic. Add a sprinkle of salt and a vigorous grind of the pepper mill to each plate. Serve warm.
A Perfect Day for Bananafish 