Recipe from The Nordic Cookbook as told by Chef Magnus Nilsson.
I found this recipe in an early 1980s cookbook and I haven’t seen it anywhere else. It is not very Nordic but it should be, and now maybe it might be… It’s one of the most delicious things you can make with porcini (cep) mushrooms.
Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes. Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
- Butter, for frying
- 600 g/1 lb 5 oz porcini (cep) mushrooms
- 100 ml/31⁄2 fl oz (3⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) cream
- 50 g/2 oz (1⁄2 cup) grated mature hard cheese a tiny amount of garlic, grated
- freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
- salt and white pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Start by heating a buttered pan over a medium heat.
2. Meanwhile with a very sharp knife cut the mushrooms into slices about 5 mm/1⁄4 inch in thickness.
3. Place them in the buttered pan and fry them until golden. Flip and fry the other side and cook each batch of mushrooms until no water leaks out into the pan anymore and the mushrooms are really nicely coloured all over without being shrivelled up. Season each slice well with salt and pepper, layer them in an ovenproof dish as in the photo. It should not be too thick, no more than 1 cm/1⁄2 inch thick.
4. Preheat the oven to 250°C/480°F/Gas Mark 9. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Don’t add too much salt here as you have salted the mushrooms quite a bit already and the cheese is also a little salty. Pour the cream mixture onto the mushrooms and place the whole thing in the oven and bake until nicely coloured on top. Leave outside of the oven to cool and set a bit before serving.
The Nordic Cookbook, Magnus Nilsson, £29.95 / $49.95 US / €39.95 / $59.95 CAN / $59.95 AUS Phaidon 2015, phaidon.com. All photography by Magnus Nilsson / except food photography by Erik Olsson.
