A Foodie Lives Here

Mushrooms on toast. For Sunday lunch. Even I think that sounds rather underwhelming. I’m a big roast something with all the trimmings kind of girl on the weekend. But not in this case. No, this was love at first bite and honest to goodness-ly delicious. The charming little poshrooms (as Rob likes to call them) on their bed of herbed ricotta and perched atop golden ciabatta made a very handsome lunch. And could just as easily be fed to friends as a before-dinner snack.

Serves 2 | Preparation time 5 minutes | Cooking time 8-10 minutes

WHAT YOU’LL NEED
For the Mushrooms
2 Tb butter
2 Tb olive oil
1 x 250g pack of mushrooms (I used brown)
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
s + p to taste
1-2 tsp lemon juice

For the Herbed Ricotta Ciabattas
3 ciabatta rolls, halved
1/2 cup crumbled ricotta cheese (you could also use buffalo mozarella)
1 Tb chopped fresh parsley
1 Tb olive oil
1 Tb lemon juice
Generous pinch of salt and pepper

WHAT TO DO
For the Mushrooms
1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a good quality pan on med-high heat. Chop the mushrooms and when the butter is sizzling add to the pan, along with salt and pepper. Stir and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the garlic. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes and remove the pan from the heat. Stir through the parsley and lemon juice and check for seasoning.

For the Herbed Ricotta Ciabattas
1. While the mushrooms cook, pre-heat your oven to the grill setting. Drizzle olive oil over the cut side of the ciabatta halves, place in an ovenproof dish and grill for 3-5 minutes until golden.
2. Meanwhile, mix together the ricotta and remaining ingredients and spoon into a small bowl.

To serve, spoon some of the ricotta mixture onto each ciabatta half, and top with mushrooms, and a couple of slivers of parmesan if you like.

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