Roast field mushrooms until soft, then fill the gills with your favourite dressing and leave to marinate. The next morning, all the dressing will be gone, absorbed by the mushroom.
4 large mushrooms, stems trimmed level with the mushroom cup
2½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp rosemary leaves, finely chopped
170g (â…” cup) cream cheese, softened
2 tsp finely chopped eschalot (French shallots)
2 tsp finely chopped chives
¼ tsp cooking salt
¼ tsp black pepper
4 soft white rolls
1 cup baby rocket leaves, tightly packed
1. To roast the mushrooms, preheat oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Place mushrooms on a tray and drizzle both sides of the mushrooms with the oil. Arrange, gill side up, on the tray, and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes, or until soft all the way through.
2. To make the mushroom marinade, whisk ingredients together in a small bowl. While the mushrooms are hot, discard the liquid pooled in the gills and arrange the mushrooms in a large container, gill side up. Spoon the marinade into the gills, filling them as much as you can. Cool, cover with a lid and refrigerate overnight (or at least 3 hours). The marinade will soak into the mushroom flesh.
3. To make the cream cheese spread, mix ingredients in a small container until combined. Refrigerate until required (but soften before spreading).
4. To assemble the rolls, remove mushrooms from the fridge 1 hour before required to bring to room temperature. Split rolls in half. Smear most of the cream cheese on the base of each roll. Pile on rocket then top with a mushroom, gill side down. Smear a bit of cream cheese on the lid then place on the sandwich. Take a giant bite and marvel at the juicy, flavour-infused mushroom!
Note: Look for large cup-shaped mushrooms rather than flat ones, so they will hold the marinade. Mushrooms will shrink by about 20 per cent, so factor that in when choosing your mushrooms and bread rolls.
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