Chestnut-Stuffed Mushrooms

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Chestnut-Stuffed Mushrooms

 

Ingredients:

8 lg Open mushrooms

Olive oil, for frying

 

For The Stuffing:

1 oz Butter or Vegetarian margarine

1 lg Onion; finely chopped

12 oz Whole cooked chestnuts

Fresh lemon juice

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Grated nutmeg

 

For The Croutes:

8 sl Wholemeal bread

2 oz Soft butter

 

Directions:

If you're making the coutes, it's a good idea to get them done in

advance and out of the way. You can fry them, but I think they're much

nicer baked to a crisp golden crunchiness in a slow oven.

 

Set the oven to 150 C (300 F, Gas Mark 2). Stamp circles in the bread

with a large pastry cutter, spread on both sides with butter and put

them on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, or until completely crisp and

golden. Cool. These will keep in a pan for a few days.

 

To prepare the mushrooms, cut off any stalks so that the surface is

level, then wash the mushrooms and pat them dry on kitchen paper.

Fry them on both sides with olive oil and drain well. Season them with

salt and pepper, then leave on one side while you make the stuffing.

Melt the butter in a medium-large saucepan. Add the onion and fry for

about 7 minutes, until soft.

 

Chop up any pieces of mushroom stalk, add these and cook for a minute or

two longer. Remove from the heat and add the cooked chestnuts, breaking

them up a bit as you do so to make a mixture which holds together but

has some chunky bits in it. Add a dash of fresh lemon juice, and salt,

pepper and grated nutmeg to taste.

 

To serve the dish, preset the oven to 200 C (400 F, Gas Mark 6), or

preheat the grill to high.

Put the croutes on a baking sheet or in a shallow casserole, then place

a mushroom on each one, black side up. Spooon the stuffing mixture on

top. Bake or grill until heated through -- about 10 minutes under the

grill, 15-20 minutes in the oven.