When my husband was a child, his mother told him that mushrooms were little pieces of steak to entice him to eat them. Incidentally, when I was a child, my mother lied about the mushrooms that made cameo appearances in our dinners. What is it about mushrooms that scare children?
Anyway, Chad’s mom’s technique worked and he still loves mushrooms as an adult. The meaty texture and earthy flavor reminds him of meat while he lives in a mostly vegan household. To me, they are just delicious and versatile, so… win-win!
Serve this mushroom onion toast at your next home brunch or as hor d’oeuvres, and you will blow away your guests. This is entirely vegan, and you can use any bread you prefer, especially gluten free if necessary.
I recommend a beautiful fresh boule, Italian loaf, or for small bites, use a French baguette. I highly encourage you to grill your toast in a sautee pan with a lot of high quality vegan butter, such as Miyoko’s (skip Earth Balance for this one, sorry) or use olive oil. You can omit a lot of calories by toasting in a toaster, but the calories are worth it here.
I used fresh Chanterelle mushrooms, but you can use any wild mushroom or a mixture of various breeds.
A delicious, herbal main course or small plate full of earthy umami.
Add mushrooms to large sautee pan over medium heat and cook out moisture, about 5 minutes. Mushrooms should reduce to about 1 cup. Remove from pan and set aside.
While mushrooms are cooking down, add vinegar to yogurt and set aside.
Add olive oil to pan and set heat to low. Add onions with a generous pinch of kosher salt. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
Increase heat to medium and add 1 tbsp butter, mushrooms, rosemary, and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir to coat vegetables. When butter has melted, turn up heat slightly and add wine. Allow wine to simmer and reduce by 2/3, returning heat to medium low.
Add yogurt and stir to coat, and allow to simmer until yogurt has reduced and thickened. Adjust seasonings if needed. Remove from heat.
In large sautee pan, melt 1 tbsp vegan butter and grill toast slices about 1-2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
Spread 2 tbsp vegan ricotta on each slice, top with half of mushroom mixture and garnish with chopped chives and a sprig of rosemary.
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