Mushrooms wrapped in crispy cheese? Yes please.
Imagine the salty, cheesy crust on a grilled cheese sandwich, but wrapped around a shaggy mane mushroom-that’s exactly what this recipe is. The inspiration for it came from two different places. The first part came to me while reading one of David Arora’s books-when he mentions shaggy manes there is a picture of his friend eating some dipped in egg batter.
A few nice shaggy manes
The second part came from remembering a recipe in the first cookbook I ever owned: Lidias Italian American Cuisine. The recipe was veal scalloppine battered with parmigiano reggiano. I decided to combine David Arora’s battering of the shaggy manes with Lidia Bastianich’s cheesy crust, and it worked out great. It’s super easy, you take some shaggy manes, dip them in a little flour, then egg, but instead of the usual breadcrumbs, you use shredded cheese instead.
Mis en place for our parmesan shaggys
Cheese cooked until crisp is called frico in Italian, and chefs have been using it for a long time. Little mounds of grated cheese can be baked until golden on a non stick silpat or baking tray, then removed when cool and used to garnish all kinds of things. but I’ve seem frico chips garnishing salads like croutons, as a chip alternative, and I even remember one frico recipe from Lidia Bastianich that’s made with apples and montasio cheese, which sounds great.
A great part of this recipe is that it can also be prepared gluten free. You don’t need glutinous properties of flour to make a crust like this, all you really need is some sort of dry substance that the egg can adhere to and moisten, which allows the cheese to stick. There are plenty of ways this could be adapted to create other things too.
Parmesan Crusted Shaggy Mane Mushrooms
Ingredients
- Shaggy mane mushrooms
- All purpose flour as needed for breading (could be gluten free)
- Eggs beaten with a splash of milk as needed for breading
- Freshly Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Grana Padano, or nice domestic parmesan, as needed for breading
- Fresh chopped parsley to taste
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste (go easy on the salt because of the cheese here)
- High smokepoint oil like grapeseed, lard or canola
- Lemon wedges for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Season the egg mixture with a pinch of salt and pepper. Combine the beaten eggs and chopped parsley. Keeping one hand reserved for wet ingredients and one for dry so you don't bread your fingers, dip the shaggy manes in the flour, then the parsley-egg mixture, then parmesan cheese.
- In a large, wide cast iron skillet or nonstick surface big enough to hold the shaggy manes, heat the oil until hot. Add the shaggy manes to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Don't touch or shake the pan at all, the cheese will still be loose until it caramelizes and becomes a cohesive mass. Once the mushrooms are golden brown on one side, use a spatula to gently loosen them from the pan.
- Flip the mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes on the other side, or until the mushrooms are completely crisp, and the crust is golden brown. Transfer the mushrooms to a wire rack or a paper towel to cool for a minute and weep oil excess oil. Serve immediately with lemon wedges, or just straight up.
Great minds think alike! I just crusted some of my own wild mushrooms – in my case – with Parmesan. Was delish. Haven’t tried shaggy mane mushrooms yet. Are they the mushrooms that you shouldn’t eat if you’ve drunk alcohol three days before or after? Or am I thinking of something else?
You are thinking of inky caps. Shaggy manes are ok to have with alcohol. (speaking from experience. Had delish breaded shaggy manes and wine to drink.)
Um. Shaggy manes are Coprinus comatus–and all Coprinus species are inky caps–as they age, the gills turn into black goo.. Some people get nauseated with alcohol ingestion, even if eaten days before. L’chaim 🙂
Yes, shaggy’s are inky caps, but inky caps don’t necessarily have to be shaggy’s.
Sorry, messed that comment right up! Was trying to post a link to some slices of puffball I just encrusted with Parmesan myself, but have clearly messed up the html tags!
I have never has problems with shaggy manes and alcohol. Another of that genus called the alcohol inky is the one.
The occasional person has a bad reaction to alcohol mixed with Shaggy Manes (as I think was mentioned in the other post on Shaggy Manes on this site), but that is rare. Just go easy on them the first time you try them! You’d hate it if your friends and loved ones “won” that particular lottery. It’s not deadly, just not a lot of fun!
Thanks for the help!
Though you may mention this elsewhere within your blog, I found one of your photographs slightly misleading, as the mushrooms you pair with the other ingredients have the black color which is indicative of an older mushroom or one that is held to long after harvesting. Mushrooms of this color should not be eaten, only the ones that are pure white. (Although if they have begun to go a bit gray on the bottom only, I have trimmed that and used the remaining white portion.) Otherwise, what a great recipe. We picked six pounds today, most of which we freeze for winter, however, with what we saved fresh I plan on enjoying this way. Thanks!
I found my first shaggy mane today and this is the recipe I used. I loved the brightness of the squeeze of lemon. After cooking, the stem was still a little tough so I didn’t eat that part. The rest was thoroughly cooked and delicious. Thank you for the inaugural recipe. Plus the tip about the dry and wet hand when breading. I will use that the rest of my life!
If you find the stems tough, make sure to cut with a sharp knife. At home, I use Laguiole, not the really spendy ones, I buy cheaper versions restaurants use at Marshalls or TJ Maxx.
Thank you for the tip. Appreciate that you share your chefs secrets with us!
What are the portions for these ingredients?
I don’t understand “portions”, but if you’re asking how many will these feed, 2 mushrooms per person is an ample serving.
We have hunted Shaggy Manes for 30 or more years. We clean them as fast as we can and put them in a pot of near-boiling water, which stops the mushroom from turning to ink. Then I spread them out on a towel and let them cool. After that, I can use them now or later, or if I have too many I freeze them.
I found some Shaggy Mane on Wednesday in thick redwood duff. I was looking for chants in a spot nearby (optimistic, but too early) and these beautiful delicate caps marching across the forest floor caught my eye. An awesome sight to behold. Thank you for the great recipe. My manes were still young and fresh, so the batter and frying “steamed” the mushrooms, which kept a moist pocket of warm juice in the space between the stem and cap. It reminded me of eating the most tender fried oysters ever. I did half with bread crumbs, half with grated cheese. Both delicious. I’d like to try this recipe with morels next spring.