Stuffed Mushrooms

Large flat-cap mushrooms stuffed with a rich duxelles filling, their own stems finely chopped and cooked down with shallots, garlic, and thyme until deeply concentrated, then bound with crème fraîche and topped with melted, bubbling Gruyère!

Prep20

Cook25

Total45

Servings As a starter

DifficultyEasy

Ingredients

For the mushrooms

8 mushrooms portobello or flat-cap, about 8–10cm diameter
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper

For the filling

mushroom stems
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic
30 gr unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp thyme
2 tbsp crème fraîche
40 gr breadcrumbs
60 gr Gruyère
1 pinch nutmeg
salt and black pepper

Equipment

Instructions

Prepare the mushrooms

Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Remove and reserve the stems. Brush the caps all over with olive oil, season, and set gill-side up in a baking dish.

Make the duxelles

Finely chop the reserved stems. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook 3 to 4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic for a minute, then the chopped stems. Cook, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes over a good heat until almost all the moisture has gone and the mixture is dark and dry.

Finish the filling

Off the heat, stir in the parsley, thyme, crème fraîche, breadcrumbs, half the Gruyère, the nutmeg, and salt and pepper. It should hold together when pressed; add a few more breadcrumbs if wet.

Stuff and bake

Pack the filling firmly into the caps, mounding slightly. Scatter the remaining Gruyère over. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender, the filling hot, and the cheese golden and bubbling.

Serve

Rest 2 to 3 minutes (the filling is very hot). Serve on dressed salad leaves, or with good bread to mop up the juices.

Notes

Mushroom size matters. Too small and you've got nowhere to put the filling. Portobello or large flat-cap mushrooms around 8-10cm are what you want.
The duxelles is the key step. Don't rush it. If you leave moisture in the filling, it'll make the stuffed mushrooms soggy. Cook until the mixture looks almost dry in the pan.
Gruyère is traditional, but Comté is excellent here too. Both have that nutty, savoury depth that works brilliantly with mushrooms. Emmental at a push.
Make ahead: prepare the filling up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerate it. Stuff the mushrooms just before baking, adding an extra 5 minutes to the oven time if they're going in cold.
Works as a main too. Three per person alongside a green salad and some crusty bread is a perfectly decent weeknight supper.

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