Oil-Preserved Mushrooms Are A Quick, Tasty Side Dish [Recipe]

One of my favorite activities is making oil-preserved mushrooms, as I love foraging mushrooms and preparing foods with them. You can make this dish in a few minutes, but enjoy these mushrooms at any point of the day or week.

Oil-Preserved Mushrooms Are The Best New Treat You Can Make

Mushrooms are always a delicious choice!

For this recipe, I prefer small and healthy, fresh mushrooms that are easy to preserve and will keep their texture. Some good choices are porcini, black trumpet, cremini, shiitake, or maitake. You can even use a mix of mushrooms, but always keep in mind that their cooking time varies.

As a first step, I always clean my mushrooms. Don’t skip this part even if you have store-bought mushrooms, because even these may have some dirt on them. To clean them, I use a small sponge and quickly run them under clean water.

Once they are clean, I leave my mushrooms on a paper towel to dry for a few hours. This is the best way to wash and dry mushrooms without damaging their structure.

After they are dry, I use vinegar, water, and garlic to cook the mushrooms for about 10 minutes. This step is what preserves the mushrooms well and allows them to absorb the flavor.

When filling my jars, I place the hot mushrooms, bay leaves, a clove of garlic, and then extra virgin oil on top. I prefer this heat to be extra hot, preferably to 140 degrees F.

Finally, I let my jars cool upside down, covered with a towel. Once cool, I store my jars in a dark and cool place.

This recipe works every time and only takes me a few minutes, but the flavors are always delicious. You can add more seasoning to the mix if you want, including red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, or fennel.

If you like a simple dinner like I do, add these mushrooms to turn a meal into a complex, delicious dish.

Oil-preserved Mushrooms

Recipe by Gillian Lightman

Ingredients

• 2.2 lb (1 kg) mushrooms

• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) vinegar

• 4 1/4 cups (1 L) water

• 1 garlic clove

• bay leaves

• extra virgin olive oil

• salt

Directions

• Wash mushrooms well, dry and leave them on a clean towel for a few hours to completely remove water.
• Using a saucepan, mix water, vinegar and garlic then bring to boil.
• Pour mushrooms in and cook for 10 minutes.
• Prepare water-bath canner.
• Simmer jars until ready for use.
• Wash lids and rings with warm soapy water.
• Drain mushrooms and place them on a clean towel.
• Place still hot mushrooms, salt, bay leaves, garlic clove in pre-sterilized jars.
• Cover them with hot extra virgin olive oil.
• Wipe rim with a clean damp cloth.
• Apply lid and ring, Adjust to fingertip-tightness.
• Process for 20 minutes (Adjust for altitude).
• Turn heat off then let jars sit for 5 minutes to settle.
• Remove jars and cool for 24 hours. Don’t place on a cool surface or where there’s a cool draft as jars may crack.
• Once completely cooled, test the seal on lids by pressing down on the center; the lid shouldn’t wiggle and must feel nice and solid.
• Any unsealed jars must be refrigerated and consumed first.

Notes

• If you have different types of mushrooms that need to be cooked differently, the first to be placed in the pan must be porcini, then everything else, then the trumpets last.
• Choose mushrooms that are fresh, small, young, and healthy.