Chanterelle Bruschetta

Chanterelles are the foie gras of the plant world. This mushroom is super smooth and buttery, when done right. So, what better way to eat this, than placed on top of a grilled slice of bread? Unfortunately, I can’t give myself any credit for thinking this recipe up. I discovered this dish during a recent visit to downtown, Napa Valley and stumbling across Oenotri. This restaurant was fantastic and even though it’s not 100% Vegan, they catered towards my plant based pallet.

There are several components that make this dish stunning. First off, you need some really large chanterelles to give you the meaty, silky smooth pieces for cooking down with thyme and butter. Thyme can grow super easily in your backyard and I’ve been lucky to grow a ton of this stuff to use for this dish.

Secondly, a nice bread like Acme (olive loaf featured here) or Tartine Bakery is a requirement to absorb the smokey flavors that come off the oil on the high heated grill pan. I don’ t talk a whole lot about the butter I use, but I’ll probably be doing an entire feature on why I use Miyoko’s butter…because it’s THAT important. Long story short, Miyoko’s butter is the realist shit out there and best of all, they don’t use palm oil!

Underneath the toppings there’s a really thin layer of Vegan mayo on this bruschetta (Trader Joe’s Vegan Spread & Dressing) and some lemon dressed Arugula to cut through all the richness. That’s it!

Servings: 2-4
Time: 20mins
Difficulty: Easy
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An easy appetizer with one of the most delicate ingredients on the planet.

Ingredients

1 clove garlic
1 bunch fresh thyme
4 slices of Acme olive bread
2 tbsp vegan butter
1 wedge of lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions

Gently wipe down chanterelles using a wet paper towel to clean off dirt.
Thinly slice garlic clove for use with cooking the chanterelles.
Prepare sliced bread by brushing them with 1 tbsp of olive oil.
To cook chanterelles, heat small pan to medium high and lay chanterelles down on a dry pan. When they start to release moisture (2 minutes), throw in 2 tbsp of vegan butter, thinly sliced garlic, and thyme, while basting the mushrooms. When mushrooms are very tender, place aside in bowl.
Heat grill pan to high and place bread down. Flip when grill marks appear.
While you wait for the bread to grill, quickly toss arugula with a tbsp of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon in a bowl.
To plate, lightly spread vegan mayonnaise on bread, place chanterelles on top, and garnish with dressed arugula. Sprinkle a little sea salt to finish the dish and serve.