Succulent, savoury mushrooms, grilled with juicy and sweet red onions, piquant garlic, spicy crushed red pepper, and herbal thyme, loaded onto grilled sourdough bread and crowned with luscious, creamy burrata - what more can I say except that Grilled Mushroom and Burrata Toast is seriously delicious eating!
I love camping and eating outdoors in the shoulder seasons of Spring and Fall, when the bugs are less pronounced if not absent altogether, and the cooler weather invites hearty and satisfying meal making. When I'm cooking outdoors and have a cooler on hand, this deluxe vegetarian toast, made with easy ingredients and a straightforward cooking method, is one of my favourite extra special dinners; mind you, I also make this recipe at home, so the choice is also yours!
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Ingredients
This succulent toast, satisfying enough as a meal in its own right - what I like to call a 'dinner toast' - requires just under 10 ingredients:
- extra virgin olive oil - a flavourful cooking oil and finishing touch
- cremini mushrooms and oyster mushrooms - an ideal mix for affordability, flavour, and texture
- red onion - deliciously sweet and juicy when grilled
- fresh garlic - everything needs garlic!
- fresh thyme - for delightful, bright, herbaceous notes
- crushed red pepper flakes - a pinch adds the right amount of kick
- salt and pepper - to season to perfection
- sturdy bread - sourdough is ideal
- burrata - a luscious Italian cheese that makes this toast into a special and rewarding meal
- lemon - an optional finishing squeeze adds brightness and acidity
What is burrata?
Burrata is an Italian cheese made in small to medium size balls, featuring a firmer mozzarella like out layer, with a soft inner centre of creamy stracciatella cheese. Once you cut into the outer layer, the succulent inner layer starts to ooze out invitingly; a treat to be sure, and one worth having from time to time! An entire burrata can feed two greedy people or four reasonable people (I count myself in the former category) and a burattini is a smaller burrata perfect for two.
How to make Grilled Mushroom and Burrata Toast
Either on a grill atop a woodfire, or in a sturdy pan at home on the stovetop, the simple preparation method is the same.
Grill the mushrooms: Sliced mushrooms, red onions, and thyme are sizzled in olive oil, joined by smashed garlic cloves, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper for seasoning, and grilled until tender.
Prepare the toasted bread: As the mushroom mixture cooks, there’s just enough time to grill or toast nice thick slices of sourdough bread and swipe the surface with a raw garlic clove, providing another hit of flavour.
Add the burrata and finishing touches: Load the toast with a generous heap of cooked mushrooms, a lavish portion of burrata, and top with a lashing of olive oil, a sprinkle of fresh thyme, and an optional squeeze of lemon juice if that suits your fancy.
Garlic cooking tip
Smashing the garlic cloves and keeping them whole avoids the potential for over browning or burning (which leads to bitterness) especially when cooking over an open fire.
Looking for more delicious outdoor friendly meals?
Grilled Mushroom and Burrata Toast, with Red Onions, Garlic, Thyme, and Chili
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 half red onion cut into slim chunks
- 4 stalks of fresh thyme keep intact, and reserve a few picked thyme leaves for final garnish
- 5 garlic cloves 4 smashed with the side of a knife, 1 reserved whole
- 400 gms cremini mushrooms and oyster mushrooms combined weight, stalks removed, and sliced
- pinch crushed red chili flakes to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 burrata or burratini
- 2 larges slices of sturdy bread such as sourdough
- Lemon wedges optional for serving
Instructions
- Either on a grill atop a wood fire, or in a sturdy pan at home on the stovetop, the preparation method is the same.
Grill the mushrooms:
- Add olive oil to a sturdy pan on medium high heat, and add the red onions, and whole thyme stalks. When the onions start to soften, after about 5 minutes, add the smashed garlic cloves and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid burning especially if cooking over a wood fire. Add a sprinkle of crushed red chili flakes, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add in the mushrooms, and cook until soft and juicy. Just before the mushroom mixture has finished cooking, mash or break up the garlic cloves a little bit with the back of your cooking implement and stir through.
Prepare the toasted bread:
- As the mushroom mixture cooks, grill or toast the thick slices of bread. When the bread is toasted or grilled, rub the surface with the reserved raw garlic clove, providing another hit of flavour.
Add the burrata and finishing touches:
- Load the toast with a generous heap of cooked mushrooms, half of what you have cooked. Using sharp knife, cut the burrata open and into portions, adding a lavish wedge of burrata on top of each mushroom laden toast. Top with a lashing of olive oil, a sprinkle of fresh thyme, and an optional squeeze of lemon juice. Enjoy!
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