Recipe by Sarah Epps
This roasted mushroom dish with chestnut purée is vegan and gluten-free, built for a crowd. This luxurious recipe for Winter is ideal as a centerpiece or side for a holiday table, where treating mushrooms and chestnuts with real attention becomes its own kind of abundance.
Serves 12
Ingredients
- All the mushrooms you can afford, a mix of varieties
- Several bunches fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram, parsley all work well)
- Zest of 1 orange (preferably organic or unwaxed)
- ½ cup dried mushrooms
- 2 jars or packages of peeled, pre-cooked chestnuts
- A few tbs. sesame oil (good quality such as La Tourangelle)
- Grapeseed oil
- Flaky sea salt
- 1 cup apple cider
- Water
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
- 2 rimmed roasting pans
- Parchment paper or foil
- Large saucepan
- Casserole dish or platter with raised sides for serving
Process
- First, make the purée (you can do this up to a few days in advance). Preheat the oven to 425°F. Toss the pre-cooked chestnuts in sesame oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Roast on parchment lined sheet pans for 15 minutes; they are already cooked, so you just want to brown them a bit. (You could use fresh chestnuts, but that is a lot more work and a challenge to peel, and the pre-cooked ones work fine.) Let the chestnuts cool.
- Meanwhile, boil 2 cups water and pour it over the dried mushrooms. Wash your herbs by submerging them in a large bowl of cold water. Lift them out and place them on a kitchen towel to dry. When they are fully dry, chop them and set aside or package them in an airtight container.
- When the chestnuts and mushroom broth are cool, purée them in the food processor, adding more water and a bit of grapeseed oil to get to a consistency like play dough, thick enough that it sticks to itself. (You will thin it further on the stovetop.) At this point, you can pack it in an airtight container until you are ready to continue cooking, or just keep going if you are making this dish the same day you are eating it.
- If your oven is cold, preheat it again to 425°F. Carefully coat the mushrooms in grapeseed oil and sea salt, keeping clusters intact as much as possible. If you have large thick mushrooms like king oysters, slice them lengthwise into ¼ inch slabs. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment and place the mushrooms on the sheets with enough space between them that they can brown and not steam. Roast until they are browned and crispy. Cooking time will vary a lot based on the water content of your mushrooms, but check on them after 20 minutes and keep going until they are done. (You can do this earlier in the day if you want; keep them on the pans to cool and reheat before serving.)
- While the mushrooms are roasting, thin the purée by heating the chestnut mixture in a saucepan and whisking in apple cider and water at a 1 to 2 ratio until it reaches a consistency thinner than peanut butter but still holding some form, like runny mashed potatoes. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.
- To serve, layer the purée into a serving dish with raised sides, then place the warm crispy mushroom clusters on top so you can see the shape of each cluster or type of mushroom. Sprinkle the herbs and orange zest on top and serve with a large spoon.
