Fried Mushrooms On Toast With Lemon Thyme Feta Cheese

I love the idea of brunch, of having time in the morning to work up an appetite for a meal that is a mix of breakfast and lunch. This recipe for fried mushrooms on toast with lemon thyme feta cheese is a perfect meal for a brunch.

It is a recipe from Shelagh Ryan that I have made some slight changes to. I used chestnut and meaty shitake mushrooms but you can use any mushrooms of your liking.

Mushrooms are rich in essential nutrients while low in calories.

I grew up eating a lot of different types of mushrooms which my parents had picked in the forest. They knew what types of mushrooms you could pick and which were poisonous.

It didn’t rub off on me unfortunately – I wouldn’t trust myself to pick the ones that won’t poison you.

King of the mushrooms in Sweden is the golden chanterelle mushroom - a delicacy which is often fried in butter and served on toast.

Unless you are on a dairy-free diet, I suggest frying the mushrooms in a mix of olive oil and butter. Otherwise, simply skip the butter and add some more olive oil to the frying pan.
If you can’t get hold of lemon thyme, use ordinary thyme and add the zest of a lemon.
I prefer to use sourdough bread or some other really good bread for the toast.

Fried mushrooms on toast for 4 people:

100g, 3½oz, 0.75 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1½ tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon thyme leaves - or use plain fresh thyme leaves + grated zest from a lemon

Black pepper

500g, 1lb2oz, mixed mushrooms (see above), sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed/minced

1 tablespoon olive oil + half a tablespoon butter

Salt and pepper

4 slices sourdough bread - or other good bread

Watercress and/or rocket (arugula) leaves

Red peppers (bell peppers) - I buy the sweet, pointed varieties

1.    In a bowl, mix together 1½ tablespoon olive oil with the fresh lemon thyme leaves and some black pepper. Add the crumbled feta cheese and mix together.

2.    Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and half a tablespoon of butter to a frying pan over a medium high heat. Once the oil and butter is hot, add the sliced mushrooms and crushed/minced garlic to the pan and toss to coat the mushrooms with the oil and butter. Season with some salt and pepper and fry for about 3-4 minutes – stirring every now and then – until the mushrooms start to brown and all the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated.

3.    Toast the bread and once ready, top each slice of bread with watercress/rocket leaves, followed by the fried mushrooms and the crumbled feta. Add some sliced peppers to each plate.