Baked mushrooms, broken bread is a simple yet sophisticated side that’s inspired by two enduring entertaining icons—stuffed mushrooms and Thanksgiving stuffing—and ends up someplace in between.
This baked mushrooms, broken bread recipe is sorta a deconstructed déjà vu of a couple enduring entertaining icons—whether stuffed mushroom caps or Thanksgiving stuffing. An effortless, elegant side that plays loose and free with the form of what you expect.–David Leite
☞ Contents
Baked Mushrooms, Broken Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino
- 1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley plus more for garnish
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary leaves plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves plus more for garnish
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon preferably organic
- 2 anchovies finely chopped (optional)
- 1/3 cup olive oil plus 2 tablespoons for drizzling
- Splash (big or small, according to your discretion) brandy
- 1 pound smallish to medium cremini mushrooms trimmed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 smallish loaf (8 oz) ciabatta
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.
- In a bowl, combine the pecorino, bread crumbs, garlic, herbs, and lemon zest.
- In another large bowl, combine the lemon juice, anchovies, 1/3 cup olive oil, and brandy. Add the mushrooms and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper and toss again. Add the cheese and herb mixture and toss once more.
- Turn the mixture onto the baking sheet. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake until the mushrooms are tender, 5 to 15 minutes more, depending on the size of the mushrooms.
- Meanwhile, tear the bread into bite-size chunks and place them on another baking sheet. Toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and lots of pepper. Place it in the oven with the mushrooms for the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking, or until the bread is golden and crisp on the outside but still a little soft in the middle.
- Just before serving, place the dried broken bread on a large platter and spoon the mushrooms and their juices, if there are any, over the top. If desired, drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with more parsley, rosemary, and thyme.
Show Nutrition
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We’d love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
OMG! This was heaven in a bowl. And please do add the anchovies! The mushrooms were divine with the bread crumbs, cheese and herbs and when tossed over the chunks of bread, we fought for the last bits. You will add this to your vegetable recipe list for all seasons.
My love for food has made the holidays the perfect excuse to really get down and cook. By preparing a delicious holiday feast for my family and friends, I feel I am giving my loved ones a big, fat, juicy kiss. For this reason, I have been on a hunt for recipes that can riff or spin off classic dishes which sometimes are little too labor-intensive for holiday cooking. This recipe for baked mushrooms fits that search perfectly. Although not intended to be so, this recipe can be an awesome swap for classic Italian stuffed mushrooms. I love that the breadcrumb mixture settles into the mushrooms without the labor of stuffing called for in the traditional dish. The rosemary is unexpected and plays so nicely with the acid of the lemons. I found one half of a ciabatta made the ratio a little heavy on the toasted bread. Next time I will use enough of the half loaf to make the ratio a little closer to one to one.
This would make a great appetizer or light supper. It was easy enough to put together. Baking the mushrooms really intensifies the flavor. I baked them in a 9 x 13 inch Pyrex pan. I don’t think the mushrooms need any additional salt, as the Parmesan cheese and anchovies are quite salty. I baked the broken bread in the top rack of the oven, and they did require the full 15 minutes to get golden and crispy. My mushrooms did not have any juice to tip over the crispy bread. The mushrooms were incredibly flavorful, but not juicy enough to be tossed with crispy dry bread. I would definitely make this dish again and serve it as a side dish, maybe without the bread.
This was a unique way to prepare mushrooms with bread. The aroma of the mushrooms baking was so nice. The baking times were spot on. I couldn’t wait to give them a try. The flavor was nice. However, the mushrooms soaked up all the liquid during the baking process, so there wasn’t a lot for the bread. The finished product was a bit dry, but had great flavor. If there was leftover bread, it would make for some fantastic croutons. If I were to make it again, I would bypass the anchovies.
I enjoy a good mushroom recipe. That being said, this is a good one. Easy to make and bake. I did have to leave the anchovies out since my sous-chef husband made objections when I brought them out to use. It seems that if they are to to put in an appearance it must be done in secret. Since they were optional, we pressed on. I found that baking the torn bread only took about 10 minutes, but that’s because the convection oven I use is a small one for the countertop. Baking the mushroom mixture only took about 40 minutes total. The family raved. This is a simple delicious side to almost any grilled meat. The taste reminds me a little of stuffing with chicken. This is something we will be having again and again.
Delicious! And very easy to prepare while working on a salad for a nice vegetarian dinner, without anchovies, of course.
But, the quantities in the recipe are for “very educated four guests” as we call them… If you prepare it for the family and want to serve it to five or six without counting the pieces – double the recipe! On the third period of baking, I stopped the oven after 10 minutes instead of 15, because the bread was as described in recipe and there was very little liquid.
This dish is simple to prepare, and packs a lot of great flavor. It would be great as a main dish or to serve as an appetizer at a party. Next time I make it I might use a little less lemon juice, just to give the other flavors a chance to shine.
The recipe worked very well, producing a very flavorful product. You can plug and play to get different flavors by changing the mushrooms, and for more intense flavor, add mushroom dust to the recipe.
This recipe was as good as I thought it was going to be. After reading the ingredient list, as well as the cooking method, I couldn’t wait to make this. It did not disappoint. I found some beautiful cremini mushrooms, which were a bit bigger than what was called for in the recipe, so I quartered the largest ones, and cut the others into thirds. This worked out very well. I liked the look of the “wedges” of mushrooms, and the flat sides got a bit caramelized. The only problem I had with the recipe was that in such a hot oven, when I took the foil off of the mushrooms after the initial 30 minutes of cooking, some of the crumb mixture was pretty dark and starting to get a bit dried out. I did not put the mushrooms back into the oven for the final 15 minutes. I did not want to ruin the dish. I put the bread into the oven and checked it after five minutes. The pieces of bread were almost done. I ended up putting the bread back into the oven for about five minutes, along with the mushrooms, just to get them warmed up a bit. The recipe says to spread the mushrooms and “their juices” over the dried bread pieces. There were no juices on my baking sheet. Everything had dried out. I am curious to see if anyone ended up with juices. I am sure that that would have added even more flavor to the dish.
Originally published on November 14, 2011
HUNGRY FOR MORE?
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Sorry, but this didn’t work out on many levels. Why bake the mushrooms for 40 minutes (the last 10 uncovered)? They were dry and as many comments reflected, had no juice. And ciabatta bread was a poor choice as it has a rather tough crust and is hard to tear, and is tough to eat. I’m going to try a variation with sauteed mushrooms and some homemade sourdough bread.
Daniel, we’re going to put this into triage testing. Stay tuned.
I can’t find ciabatta in the stores where I live. Is there an approximate weight for the bread and what type would be best to substitute. Thanks. This sounds great!
Deanna, thanks for the heads up. It’s not an exact measure. I’d say about 8 ounces. I’ve amended the recipe.
Thanks for the help. I look forward to trying this.
That’s what I’m wondering, Renee. I’ve done something similar to this, well, minus the torn bread, but more stir fry style for the cooking. Other than that I’ve only used the rehydrated mushroom in soups or saucy dishes, like Stroganoff. I’m game to give it a go. Maybe I’ll do a small test batch, and if that’s a fail, I’ll do my usual stove top prep, then at the end, stick it under the broiler. 😉 We’ll see.
Looking forward to hearing what you think and find, ruthie!
Haven’t tried this yet, but I definitely will — kind of a mushroom panzanella-ish thing. It sounds (and looks in your pic) amazing. Along with Jackie G. I am a mushroom wedger. 😉 They are just so much…I’d have to say…meatier…a real, recognizable, mouthful of funghi goodness, which in this case seems like the perfect match for the torn bread bits.
Cooking the mushrooms in foil, I can’t imagine why so many people didn’t have liquid left. The first thing I thought when I saw the foil, was, ack, limp mushrooms sitting in brown water. 😉 But since that doesn’t seem to be the case here, I’ll go with the foil.
I’ve got some dried wild mushrooms which I may try rehydrating and doing this with. I love the wild mushrooms so this might be a good showcase for them and all their flavor, and maybe shower the finished dish with some nice gremolata for lightness and contrast. But we’ll see if rehydrated comes out well after baking. Lots of good mushroom recipes on here, guys.
Thanks so much, ruthie. And yes, a panzanella-ish thing. I know a number of folks who’ve sworn off stuffing at Thanksgiving after trying this. I wonder, do you think the rehydrated ‘shrooms would get tough in the oven?
So simple, so delicious. Don’t double the lemon when you double the recipe. For the first time out, a home run! Will make again.
Sue and Steve, so glad you enjoyed the dish. And thanks for the heads up about not doubling the lemon juice. Sometimes a little thing like that can make all the difference. Happy 2014!