Roasted Mushrooms with Parmesan and Pine Nuts
Roasted Mushrooms with Parmesan and Pine Nuts
Roasted Mushrooms with Parmesan and Pine Nuts
In March I was watching the America’s Test Kitchen, and they demonstrated a new recipe for roasted mushrooms. I was about to delete the episode, until they introduced a new technique of using a brine for the mushrooms. I was a little taken back, as we are all told from an early age in kitchens to not wash the mushrooms as it will water log them and destroy their delicate texture. This is to ensure they stay moist and are evenly seasoned during the roasting period. The recipe calls for them to roast in the oven for about an hour, until they have deeply browned. Finally, the mushrooms get a bath in melted butter and lemon juice before adding some favor components: Parmesan, parsley and roasted pine nuts.
- Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms, stemmed
- 1 pound shitake mushrooms, stemmed
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ounce parmesan cheese, grated about 1/2 cup
- 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- In your oven, preheat to 450 degrees F. Adjust your oven rack to the lowest position possible.
- In a large plastic container, dissolve 5 teaspoons salt into 2 quarts room temperature water. Add the prepared mushrooms to brine, cover with a heavy plate to ensure the mushrooms are below the water line, and allow to brine for 10 minutes.
- Drain the mushrooms using a colander, pat dry with kitchen paper. On a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive-oil and spread the mushrooms, and toss to coat. Roast until the liquid has completely evaporated from the mushrooms. This should take about 35-45 minutes.
- Remove the mushrooms from the oven and, using a spatula stir the mushrooms. Return them to the oven and continue to allow to roast until the mushrooms have deeply browned. This will take an additional 5-10 minutes longer.
- Then, in a large bowl combine the melted butter and lemon juice. In the bowl, combine the mushrooms and toss to completely coat. Add the pine nuts, parsley and toss. You can either then add and combine the grated Parmesan, or you an slice the Parmesan with a vegetable peeler and add to the finished product.
- Season with salt and pepper to your liking, serve immediately.
- Cut the mushrooms into similar sizes. Cremini mushrooms do differ in diameter. I suggest you quarter large (more than 2 inches) mushrooms and halve the medium ones, and I left the small ones whole.
