Burnt Butter Mushrooms on Toast
Mushrooms on toast is only ever as good as the pan is hot. Get it properly hot, tear the mushrooms instead of slicing them, and let the butter go past gold to nut brown.
- Prep 5 min
- Cook 10 min
- Total 15 min
- Serves 2
- Vegetarian
Method
Step 1. Tear the mushrooms rather than slicing them. The ragged edges catch and brown; a clean cut face just sits there and steams.
Step 2. Put a large frying pan over a high heat with the olive oil and leave it until it shimmers. Tip in the mushrooms in one layer and then do not touch them for three minutes.
Step 3. Toss once. Cook for another three minutes, until they have shrunk by half and are deep brown on most sides. Season with salt now, not before — salt early and they release water and boil.
Step 4. Turn the heat to medium and drop in the butter, the flattened garlic cloves and the thyme. Let the butter foam, then keep going for about 90 seconds, swirling the pan, until the foam subsides and the milk solids at the bottom turn the colour of a hazelnut and smell of biscuits.
Step 5. Take the pan off the heat at once — burnt butter turns to burnt butter properly within seconds. Squeeze in the lemon; it will spit.
Step 6. Toast the sourdough while the pan rests. Lift out the garlic and the thyme stalks.
Step 7. Pile the mushrooms and all the brown butter onto the toast. Parsley, shaved cheese, a lot of black pepper, flaky salt.
Notes from the kitchen
- Crowding the pan is the one way to ruin this. Two batches in a small pan beats one batch in a full one.
- Any mushroom works. A mixed bag of shiitake and maitake is worth the extra if you see one.
- To make it vegan, use a good olive oil plus a tablespoon of tahini stirred in at the end for the same rich, nutty weight, and skip the cheese.
