When I got back from hunting with a bag full of fresh Gyroporus cyanescens, one of the only boletes I prefer fresh to dried, this is what I made. It's super simple, and just a snapshot of the simple European food I usually cook at home.

Lentils with lovage soffrito and Gyroporus cyanescens recipe — These are excellent cooked fresh.

First you make a soffrito by finely chopping some bacon or ham with garlic, onion, celery, and herbs, which you sweat for a bit in olive oil. Then you add lentils, but not any lentils, really good lentils, and by really good I mean no brown, red, or any of the cheap kinds.

From my experience, the only two types of lentils I would use for this are French lentils du puy, or Black beluga lentils, anything else just won't taste the same, and there is definitely a difference in taste with lentils (I strongly dislike the brown ones for texture and flavor reasons).

Finally, you toss in a good handful of cherry tomatoes just to warm through, and top the whole thing with a pile of sauteed mushrooms, and plenty of olive oil. Add some crusty bread and a few slices of charcuterie and it's a good summer meal.

Gyroporus cyanescens or the cornflower bolete, an edible blue staining bolete — I used blue-staining boletes, (Gyroporus cyanescens) but you could use many different mushrooms here.

Vegan or Vegetarian Mushroom Recipes

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5 from 1 vote

Warm French Lentils with Sauteed Wild Mushrooms

Serves 2-4 as an appetizer, side dish, or light entree

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Boletes

Servings: Servings

Calories: 847kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Equipment

2 10 inch cast iron skillets or similar

Ingredients

2 cups cooked lentils du puy or black lentils
Kosher salt to taste
1 handful chopped fresh herbs a mix of parsley, cilantro, lovage, dill, or other fresh garden herbs, plus extra for finishing
2 oz bacon Optional
Extra virgin olive oil as needed for cooking and extra for drizzling
High heat cooking oil as needed for cooking the mushrooms, a tablepoon or two
Fresh lemon wedges for serving
Handful of fresh cherry tomatoes halved
2 oz Half a stalk of celery
2 oz shallot or onion
1 medium sized clove of garlic
Dash of white wine
4 oz fresh mushrooms thickly sliced
Fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

Finely mince the bacon if using, garlic, celery and shallot or onion, then sweat with the oil for a few minutes.
Add the wine and cook off, then add the lentils and some of their reserved cooking liquid and simmer for a bit until the vegetables are soft. The pan should stay juicy, so add a little extra liquid if you need.
Double check the seasoning and adjust to taste, then toss in a handful of halved cherry tomatoes at the end just to warm them through.
Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of cooking oil in a pan and brown the mushrooms well, then season lightly to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, toss the lentils with some of the extra herbs, a good drizzle of oil, and spoon the mushrooms over the top, passing the lemon wedges alongside. You can also serve them from a larger dish family style.

Notes

Substitutions

French lentils are wonderful, but you can also use black beluga lentils or white lentils. In a pinch, regular brown lentils will work. Red or yellow lentils are too soft to use here.

Nutrition

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