Let's make a premise: our section is usually called top vegetables of the month, but mushrooms are not a type of vegetable .
We thought that it was still the top vegetable food of the month and that it was impossible not to talk about it.
Mushrooms are a concentrate of properties : they are very rich in minerals, especially phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and selenium; they also contain tryptophan, lysine and B vitamins.
They have good antioxidant qualities, they are very low in fat and low in calories. Calories and nutritional values are slightly different depending on the type of fungus.
Mushrooms are a real cure for the immune system and for the health of the heart and vessels . Nature gives us what we need just when we need it most and, in fact, mushrooms are a perfect ally to face the beginning of autumn.
During the rest of the year we can eat them dry or frozen but in October let's bring them to the table fresh and have fun cooking them in many different ways. Mushrooms are very versatile foods and make even very simple dishes more interesting. Any examples?
Minestrone with mushrooms
Minestrone is a very simple and absolutely light dish. To enrich it with some mushrooms makes it certainly more interesting. In the minestrone we can put the vegetables we want, preferably in season. An example of a perfect minestrone for October ?
Ingredients for 4 people :
> in total it takes a kilo of vegetables, net, between pumpkin, various types of cabbage, celery, carrot, onion and, of course, mushrooms, better if mixed.
> Water, salt and extra virgin olive oil.
Preparation : wash and chop all the vegetables and mushrooms, put them in a large pot, add water, without overdoing it (the vegetables are already rich in water) and cook over low heat for 30/40 minutes. Season with olive oil, salt and, if desired, a pinch of pepper.
The benefits of mushrooms in winter
More quick ideas for using mushrooms in the kitchen
The mushrooms help us, therefore, to make a minestrone more interesting, but the same is true for a vegetable broth or for a simple seasoning for pasta. For example:
Vegetable broth with mushrooms
To the basic recipe of vegetable broth, add a couple of fresh mushrooms ; very common mushrooms, such as champignons, are also fine. When the time for fresh mushrooms is over, we can do the same thing with dried mushrooms.
Tomato sauce with mushrooms
Ingredients for 4 people:
> about 350 grams of mushrooms
> 500 grams of tomato sauce.
Preparation : fry a clove of garlic in a little extra virgin olive oil, pour the tomato puree and cook for about ten minutes, add the previously cleaned mushrooms, season with salt and cook for another 10 minutes. Season the pasta you prefer.
White dressing for pasta
Ingredients : about 4 grams of mushrooms are needed for 4 people.
Preparation : clean and cut the mushrooms, put them in a pan with already warm olive oil and a clove of garlic, salt and pepper and cook for about ten minutes. Remove the garlic, season the pasta and finish the dish with fresh chopped parsley.
This dressing is usually prepared with porcini mushrooms, but we can also get it with other mushrooms, for example cardoncelli or mixed mushrooms. It is excellent for seasoning fresh egg pasta, for example tagliatelle, but nothing prevents it from being used for other pasta shapes.
Grilled cardoncelli mushrooms
Clean the mushrooms and remove the stem and cook them on the griddle after brushing a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Cook on both sides for four to five minutes per side. After cooking, season with salt, extra virgin olive oil, chopped fresh parsley and black pepper; serve the whole mushrooms or cut into strips.
Mushrooms, be careful ...
With mushrooms you can prepare lots of recipes, but be careful to use only cultivated mushrooms or harvested by very experienced people.
It is not always easy to distinguish toxic mushrooms from those that are good to eat because some varieties of poisonous mushrooms resemble very much others than edible mushrooms . And in the Italian forests of deadly poisonous mushrooms there are many ... We don't play mushroom hunter if we are not really experts.
