In Spain, hands down the most famous is the rovellon, or saffron milkcap. This particular recipe I made for the Cascade Mycological society’s cookbook.
Chickpeas are popular in Spanish cuisine, and gran queso is a famous, slightly salty cheese from the region. Combining the chickpeas and cheese with a little chopped, peeled tomato, and some saffron milkcaps makes a great dish. Halfway between a saute and a stew, it’s perfect for the cold fall nights in Minnesota when the milkcaps start to fruit. Served on top of polenta, pasta or toast it can be a great vegetarian entrée, it wouldn’t hurt to throw some aged ham or prosciutto in it either though.
Saffron Milkcaps With Tomato, Chickpeas, and Gran Queso
A rich saute of saffron milk cap mushrooms with chickpeas, tomato and gran queso cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh saffron milkcaps cleaned. Quartered or sliced if large, left whole if small
- ½ cup cooked chickpeas/garbanzo beans preferably dried
- ½ cup chopped peeled tomatoes
- ¼ cup chicken or vegetable broth
- Gran queso cheese for grating
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil for finishing the plate preferably a peppery Spanish variety
- Flat leaf parsley or cilantro coarsely chopped
- High heat oil like grapeseed or light olive oil for sautéing
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saute pan until lightly smoking. Add the mushrooms and cook on high heat until lightly browned, 5 about minutes. Season the milkcaps lightly with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and add the garlic and cook for 1 minutes.
- Next add the broth, chickpeas, and tomatoes, then simmer for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. The mixture should have thickened, but still have enough juice to ladle a bit onto each plate. If the pan starts to get dry, add some more stock or water and adjust the consistency as needed.
- Double check the seasoning for salt and pepper before serving, especially if you used water instead of stock. Finish the dish by adding the parsley at the end, then dividing the ragu between 4 preheated plates. Garnish each plate with a drizzle of some olive oil, grated cheese, and serve immediately.
I’ve never collected L. deliciosus before. I found some once fruiting under a large loblolly pine, but they were too far gone to collect. Based on that one occurance, I know they’re in our area, but I just rarely forage in pine woods. I do collect L. volemus and L. corrugis whenever I find them (really, really good) and I’ve also collected L. indigo and L. paradoxus (not as good, IMHO). I may have to start looking in those pine woods to see if I can find some of those saffron caps and give them a try- your recipe sounds great!
I didn’t hunt in pine much either, but after heavy rains, I have a couple spots in the pines I’ve stolen from the Russians here in MN that have given me 30+lbs consistently of good, bug-free milkcaps. You have to dig most of them from underneath the pine needles where I live though, I find them by looking for lumps in the pine needles, since the needles have typically fallen off when the milkcaps fruit here in earnest, often around late Oct in my areas.