Stuffed Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms

These stuffed mushrooms are one of the tastiest vegetarian bites I've ever had. Mushrooms are stuffed with a cheesy, garlic and breadcrumb mix that sounds so simple but is absolutely delectable. This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

So it's Easter Monday and you may have been out mushroom foraging over the Easter long weekend. Suddenly you have a bounty of saffron milk cap mushrooms and you need a recipe for them. Or maybe you just want to serve something delicious and vegetarian to friends or for dinner using regular mushrooms. This delicious filling is great in small mushrooms too as a delightful little finger food.

Saffron Milk Caps (Lactarius deliciosus) are one of the best seasonal delights. In the lead up to Easter and through April people forage for them through pine forests of NSW, Victoria and South Australia - they are found from northern NSW all the way to South Australia. We tend to go to Oberon to forage for them which is a bit of a trek but worth it. While it sounds intimidating, mushroom foraging is simple once you've done a foraging class. I don't recommend foraging for them if you haven't done a course because mushrooms can be poisonous.

This is a story on the mushroom foraging course we did a few years ago and it was great and went into a lot of detail about what to look for while making it fun too. But even if you have no inclination to do so, buy some field or button mushrooms and these are absolutely fantastic with these too. I just really want you guys to try these stuffed mushrooms!! =)

Concave saffron milk cap mushrooms-the green isn't mould, it's bruising from touching. Even the lightest touch can bruise these delicate mushrooms. The green/brown bruising disappears after cooking.

Saffron milk cap mushrooms have a slight peppery flavour to them but I find don't really have the "mushroom" flavour of brown and white mushrooms. They're also strikingly beautiful with a bright orange colour. Some are concave and some convex and this recipe works with the concave ones that form a cup.

Other recipes using Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms: Hungarian Mushroom Soup, Pickled Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms, Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom Tart, Saffron Milk Cap & Thyme Mushroom Strudel,

After I made a batch I made another straight after as they quickly disappeared. I realise that me giving you a hard sell on these stuffed mushrooms is hard because of how they look. They don't look like anything special really as you don't see that beautiful orange colour but I really don't want that to put you off making these because some of the tastiest food is the most plain or weird looking.

As if to emphasise how odd looking these stuffed mushrooms are Mr NQN saw a plate of these and furrowed his brow. "How come we are having biscuits with risotto?" he asked. So I guess they do look like biscuits!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you agree that some of the ugliest or oddest looking food is the tastiest? What have you been up to over the Easter long weekend?

Stuffed Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Serves: 4 with a salad

• 600g/1.3lbs saffron milk cap mushrooms
• 75g/2.6ozs. butter
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
• 1 cup/90g/3ozs. breadcrumbs
• 60ml/2flozs extra virgin olive oil
• 250g/8.8ozs cream cheese
• 1 cup/90g/3ozs. finely grated parmesan cheese plus 2 tablespoons extra for sprinkling
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• 5 sprigs thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• Black pepper
• Freshly chopped chives or parsley to serve

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 190C/374F and line a large baking tray with parchment. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and place them on the baking tray. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat and add the garlic and sauté for a minute until fragrant. Then add the breadcrumbs and fry these for a minute til they absorb the butter and mix with the garlic. Take the pan off the heat and add the cream cheese (into the saucepan will do, the heat will make the cream cheese softer and easier to work with) and 1 cup of parmesan, mustard, thyme and salt and mix to combine.

Step 2 -Drizzle the mushrooms with olive oil and then fill with the cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. If you are using small mushrooms check that they are done at the 15 minute mark.