Turn your Monday into a mushroom masterpiece! Dive into these delicious meat-free dishes – it’s the perfect way to kick off the week! 

Basil-mushroom rotis with cream cheese 

Serves 2 // Cooking time 10 minutes 

 

Ingredients 

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 garlic clove, grated
1 punnet exotic mushrooms, chopped
Handful basil
2 rotis, toasted
¼ cup cream cheese 

Method 

1. Heat oil and butter in a pan and fry garlic until golden. Add the mushrooms and fry for 5 minutes.
2. Remove from the heat and add the basil to wilt.
3. Spoon mushrooms and cooking juices over rotis, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve with the cream cheese on the side.

Cook’s note: Exotic mushrooms are tastier than button mushrooms, but they can be pricey. If exotic mushrooms are out of your price range, add a dash of soy sauce for that umami flavour. 

Recipe & styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Samantha Pinto // HMimages.co.za 

 

Rice noodles, mushrooms and Thai green Curry sauce  

Serves 4 // Cooking time 10 minutes 

 

Ingredients 

For the sauce 

1 cup coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp Thai green curry paste
¼ tsp fish sauce  

For the noodles and mushrooms 

100g king oyster mushrooms
2 Tbsp olive oil
Handful Asian salad greens
250g rice noodles, cooked 

Method 

For the sauce 

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a pot, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. 

For the noodles and mushrooms 

1. Prepare the mushrooms by slicing and scoring them. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry them until golden.
2. Blanch the greens in boiling water, then place in iced water.
3. To serve, drizzle the noodles with green curry sauce and top with mushrooms and greens.

Recipes & styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Andreas Eiselen/ HMimages.co.za 

 

Meat-free mushroom pie with sesame pastry 

Serves 8 // Cooking time 1 hour 20 minutes 

Ingredients 

For the sesame pastry  

¼ cup black sesame seeds
1 tsp cracked black pepper
400g cake flour
220g butter
½ tsp salt
3 Tbsp cold water
1 egg, beaten 

For the mushroom pie filling  

110g butter
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
¼ cup flour
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cups milk
½ cup grated mozzarella
¼ cup grated Parmesan
3 Tbsp olive oil
10g thyme
450g mixed mushrooms, chopped  

Method  

For the sesame pastry 

1. In a food processor, pulse the sesame seeds and pepper until ground. Add the flour, butter and salt. Pulse until combined.
2. Add the water, 1 tbsp at a time, until the mixture comes together into a dough.
3. Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for 1 hour.

For the mushroom pie filling 

1. Heat 1 tsp butter and fry the garlic until golden.
2. Melt 4 Tbsp butter in a pot over low heat. Remove from the heat and mix in flour, mustard, fried garlic, and salt and pepper.
3. Return the pot to the heat. Gradually add the milk, stirring, until the sauce is smooth.
4. Remove from the heat again and add the cheeses. Mix until they melt.
5. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil, another 3 tbsp butter and the thyme in a pan. Add the mushrooms and fry until they are golden. Mix half the mushrooms into the cheese mixture.

To assemble 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 23 cm baking tin.
2. Cut the ball of pastry in half. On a floured surface, roll out half to fit the tin. Press it into the tin and blind bake it for 10 minutes.
3. Pour the cheese filling into the pastry case. Top with the remaining mushrooms.
4. Roll out the rest of the pastry and cut into 1 cm strips. Lay out all the horizontal strips on top of the pie first. Fold half of them back on themselves. Working from the middle of the pie out, lay down a vertical strip, then weave it in.
5. Brush the pastry lattice with egg and bake for 40 minutes, until golden.

Recipe & styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Andreas Eiselen // HMimages.co.za 

 

Balsamic mushroom pasta 

Serves 2 // Cooking time 30 minutes 

Ingredients 

Glug of olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
150g mixed mushrooms
1 cup cream
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
100g spaghetti  

Method  

1. Heat oil in a large pan. Fry the onion until golden. 
2. Add mushrooms and fry until brown. Add cream and balsamic and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Cook the pasta, then mix it with the sauce.

Recipe & styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Andreas Eiselen & Kendall-Leigh Nash // HMimages.co.za 

Also read:3 Comforting meat-free meals with chickpeas