Mushrooms and watercress | Lawrence Murphy

Autumn rain followed by a slight rise in temperature mean there are plenty of wild mushrooms.
By Lawrence Murphy
Published 7th Nov 2019, 17:01 BST
Fried mushrooms with watercress by Lawrence MurphyFried mushrooms with watercress by Lawrence Murphy
Fried mushrooms with watercress by Lawrence Murphy

If you forage for anything in our countryside I suspect, like me, you stick to things you can positively identify. The world of fungi is so confusing that something that looks good to eat will probably give you a bad tummy – or much worse.

It’s an area I leave to the experts.

Ingredients – serves 2 

300g hedgehog mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

Small bunch thyme

1 clove garlic, chopped

30ml olive oil

Pinch sea salt

Juice from a quarter of a lemon

Small bunch watercress

Knob of butter and olive oil for cooking

Method

1. Pick the leaves from the thyme and put them into a small blender with the garlic and olive oil.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

2. Add a pinch of sea salt and blend until you have a pungent green dressing.

3. Put a large frying pan on a medium to hot heat. Put a small amount of olive oil in the pan and add the sliced mushrooms.

4. Fry for 1 min and add a knob of butter. Don’t worry if liquid comes out of the mushrooms, keep cooking until the liquid goes and your mushrooms will then fry.

5. Add the lemon juice once the mushrooms are colouring and then a tbspn of the dressing.

6. Arrange on plates, add more of the dressing, season and put the watercress on top.

7. Serve with crusty bread for lunch or as a side dish.