baked field mushrooms with caramelised onions, kale and nettle

… this week has passed in a bit of a blur.  I remember Sunday night dragging its heels kicking and screaming into Monday morning and thinking that the lead weight of days would never pass quick enough no matter how busy we are and the next minute it’s Saturday morning and i’ve got a stinking cold.  I love being busy but it seems to be a bitter punishment to have survived the week with this gift.  To be fair it means I get the day to stay in bed and rest which is no doubt what the body is really saying and the weather outside looks pretty gloomy from where i’m lying and it gives me time to think about food.  I’ve been laying here thinking about what I could eat if I could eat anything in the world right now without consequence and I think the cold has infected my brain because all I can think of is doughnuts and to be honest i’m not really a doughnut fan… oh don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t kick one out of bed for farting but i’m not dragging myself down to the shops for one and I am most certainly not baking my own.  What I really need is chicken soup with kneidlach dumplings which is pretty appropriate seeing that it’s the start of passover this week and traditional food like this is exactly what I should be eating… maybe this cold is someones gods what of reminding me of tradition and to probably give my mother a call…

baked field mushrooms with caramelised onions, kale and nettle
this has to be one of my favourite easy Spring meals… when the nettles are really young they have such a wonderful sweetness to them that works so beautifully with the deep flavour of the field mushroom.  Pick them with care, using rubber gloves and a large open bowl and take only the top four sets of leaves. If you’re not convinced you can replace with spinach but nettles are everywhere and eating them is the best way to keep them under control.  Try and find nettles out in a field or from somewhere rural rather than on a roadside where they may have been pee’d on by a dog or had a lot a traffic Wash them carefully These mushrooms are also a really easy meal to make and works well as both a hearty main meal for a vegetarian or a great starter.

2 large onions – thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
a small dash of white wine
4 x large flat or field or portobello mushrooms
100g fresh kale
100g freshly picked and washed nettle tops

pre-heat the oven to 180C

place the mushrooms into a large oven-proof dish, drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with freshly torn rosemary and place in the oven for 15 minutes

meanwhile place a small but deep frying pan on the hob and heat it gently, then add some butter and olive oil and once they’ve melted add the onions, stir well add the sugar, thyme and seasoning and let them sweat for a good 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure they don’t stick.

after 30 mins they should be nicely golden, so turn up the heat and pour in a dash or two of white wine and let it bubble away, then turn down the heat to low and lay the kale and nettles on top and let them gently wilt for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and set aside.

pull the mushrooms from the oven and cover each mushroom with a mix of kale and nettles and then top with onions – you could add a little blue cheese at this stage or some walnuts perhaps and then pop them back in the oven for a final 10 minutes

eat and of course, enjoy!