Grilled Mushroom and Burrata Toast, with Red Onions, Garlic, Thyme, and Chili
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 this is seriously delicious eating!
Servings: 2 people
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!
Notes
Tip: smashing the garlic cloves and keeping them whole during cooking avoids the potential for over browning or burning (which leads to bitterness) especially when cooking over an open fire.