What’s for dinner? Baked mushroom bowls with Swiss chard mash

Serves 4

You’ll need:
For the mash – 6 large baking potatoes; 6 tablespoons butter; 125ml full cream milk, kept warm; 1 medium white onion, diced; 1 bunch/ 200g Swiss chard, roughly chopped
For the mushrooms – 500g mixed cultivated mushrooms; 2 tablespoons butter, melted; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 2 garlic cloves, grated; ± 6 sprigs of fresh thyme; ½ tsp chilli flakes
Olive oil; salt and pepper, to taste; micro herbs or baby greens, for serving

How to: 

For the mash:

• Peel potatoes and cut into large cubes. Transfer to a pot of cold water and rinse until the water runs clear.
• Cover potatoes with clean cold water and season generously with salt. Bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are completely tender.
• Drain in a colander and let steam dry for a minute. Use a potato ricer, food mill or handheld masher to mash the potatoes in their pot.
• Add the butter and fold in using a spatula. Pour in the hot milk and fold it into the potatoes.
• Season to taste.
• While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the Swiss chard. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion until soft.
• Add the Swiss chard and sauté until barely wilted. Season. Fold the Swiss chard through the mashed potatoes and keep warm.

For the mushrooms:

• Preheat oven to 200˚C, fan on. Place the mushrooms in a large bowl. It is great to use a mix of mushrooms but keep the sizes similar for cooking.
• Keep small portabellinis whole and slice large browns into quarters. Drizzle the mushrooms with melted butter.
• Add the lemon juice, garlic, thyme and chilli. Toss to coat well. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet and spread into a single layer.
• Roast for 10-15 minutes or until mushrooms release liquid and are golden brown.
• Carefully pour off the excess mushroom liquid to keep them from going soggy. (You can keep this for a delicious broth or stock or drizzle it over the dish as a sauce)
• Serve the roasted mushrooms on a bed of the Swiss chard mash.
• Top with some fresh herbs or baby greens and serve!

*Recipe and image by The South African Mushroom Farmers’ Association