The Slow Cooked Lunch Box: Confit mushrooms on toast with caramelised shallots & crispy Parma ham

This week, Laoise Casey suggests you take a little time over your lunch box...
Laoise Casey
Laoise Casey30 August 2016

This week’s lunch box uses two of my favourite cooking techniques – slowly sweating shallots and confit cooking. Sweating shallots is one of my favourite things to do in the kitchen because of the beautiful flavour and aroma. When you sweat shallots over a low heat they turn translucent and become sweet and juicy. Pick one up and lightly squeeze it between your thumb and forefinger and it will give way – that’s how you know it’s done. We’re then caramelising the shallots until they turn golden brown. At this stage we’re adding a little knob of butter and a splash of balsamic vinegar which gives you sticky sweet shallots which contrast with the rich earthy confit mushrooms.

Mushrooms can be either cooked quickly on a high heat or low and slow. This slow confit method I’ve outlined below is inspired by our mushroom dish at Paradise Garage. In the restaurant we use Portobello mushrooms and confit them in a large shallow pan on the plancher (a flattop grill). At home I like to use chestnut mushrooms for a slightly quicker cooking time. When you cook mushrooms like this the end result is a wonderful earthy flavour. The mushrooms are meltingly soft and turn a rich brown colour. This recipe uses a lot of olive oil but once cooked you strain this oil through a sieve and then have an extra end product. With this confit oil you can use it to cook mushrooms again (or try other vegetables, like carrots, Jerusalem artichokes or baby potatoes) or make a salad dressing or simply drizzle over green leaves – try baby spinach, rocket, watercress. The oil itself takes on the flavour of the mushrooms and the aromatics – garlic, rosemary, thyme. You could also add some lemon peel. Some basil stalks. A bay leaf. It’s up to you. Choose the flavours you like.

We’re taking those mushrooms, shallots and piling them high on sourdough toast. Then adding some crispy Parma ham for an extra crunchy texture. Some Parmesan cheese shavings. A little chopped parsley for a fresh grassy flavour to compliment the mushrooms. Finally finish with an extra glug of the mushroom oil. You can also sprinkle the mushroom oil on top of the sourdough before toasting for extra flavour.

These cooking techniques take a little time but once you have done the initial preparation you can leave them to mind themselves while you get on with other things. In a world where we are always told that we have to be busy and do things quickly I quite enjoy this quiet rebellion by taking my time for once. Perhaps one Sunday afternoon when you’re relaxing at home you can start sweating shallots and get the confit mushrooms on. Then sit down and relax while the kitchen fills up with the most glorious smells. This is why I love cooking: a little time and some simple aromatics combine to create a meal to be savoured. I hope you enjoy making this recipe as much as I do. Have fun with it. After all - it’s only cooking.

Cost: £3.50

Equipment

Knife and chopping board

Small shallow frying pan

Saucepan and lid

Spatula

Baking tray

Greaseproof paper

Bowl

Sieve

Ingredients

8 chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

Sprig of rosemary (you could also use thyme)

Olive oil, enough to cover the sliced mushrooms, approximately 300ml plus 2 tbsp. to cook the shallots

2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced horizontally

Adult lunch boxes - in pictures

1/8

Knob of butter

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

2 slices Parma ham

Small handful of Parmesan shavings

2 slices sourdough, toasted

Small handful parsley, stalks removed and leaves finely chopped

Sea salt, cracked black pepper to season

How to make it

Heat a small shallow frying pan on a very low heat. If you don’t have a small frying pan you can use a saucepan. Place the mushrooms, garlic and rosemary in the pan and pour over enough olive oil to cover. As the mushrooms cook they will reduce in size slightly so add just enough olive oil to cover. Season well with salt and pepper. Leave the mushrooms to cook on a very low heat until tender and juicy (approximately 1 hour). Meanwhile heat 2 tbsp. olive oil on a low heat in a saucepan. Add the slice shallots, a dash of water and season. Leave the shallots to sweat gently on a low heat for 10 – 15 minutes until they turn translucent and are soft to the touch. Cover with a lid while cooking. If you find that the shallots are starting to catch add an extra dash of water and stir with a spatula. When the shallots are soft increase the heat to medium. Add the butter and balsamic vinegar and cook the shallots until they caramelise and turn golden brown. Stir to avoid burning. This should take around 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 150C. Place the Parma ham slices on greaseproof paper on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes or until crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

When the mushrooms are cooked remove from the pan and drain in a sieve over a bowl. Leave to drain for a couple of minutes to remove excess oil. You can re-use the oil to cook mushrooms again or use to make salad dressings, or drizzle over green leaves for a simple side dish. Top the toasted sourdough with the Parma ham, pile on the confit mushrooms and finish with the Parmesan shavings and chopped parsley. Finally add a generous drizzle of the confit mushroom oil. If you are packing this for lunch the next day keep the confit mushrooms separate and assemble the open sandwich just before eating.

Laoise Casey is a chef de partie at Paradise Garage in Bethnal Green and the author of cuisinegenie.ie. Follow her on Twitter @cuisine_genie and Instagram @laoisecooks. Laoise uses Box Appetit lunch boxes.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in