Fyldte Champignoner med Danablu

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Baking tray lined with parchment
• •Small frying pan
• •Mixing bowl
• •Microplane or fine grater for the garlic

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the mushrooms

   Heat the oven to 200C. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a slightly damp cloth. Don't rinse them under the tap. Mushrooms drink water like sponges, and waterlogged caps weep liquid in the oven and turn the filling into soup. Twist out the stems with a gentle pull and set them aside. You'll use them. Arrange the caps gill-side up on a baking tray lined with parchment.

   Choose mushrooms with closed caps and no dark spots underneath. Open caps mean the gills have already started to release moisture, and they'll collapse in the oven.
2. 2

   Mince the stems

   Chop the reserved mushroom stems as finely as you can. Melt a small knob of the butter (taken from your 75g) in a little frying pan over medium heat. Add the minced stems with the shallot and a small pinch of salt. Cook for about four minutes, stirring, until the shallot turns translucent and the mushroom liquid has cooked off completely. You want them dry, almost dry-fried at the end. Wet stems mean a watery filling. Stir in the grated garlic for the last thirty seconds, just enough to lose its rawness, then tip everything into a bowl to cool.

3. 3

   Make the Danablu butter

   In a separate bowl, mash the Danablu and the remaining softened butter together with a fork. The two should come together into a rough, marbled paste with streaks of blue running through pale gold. Don't try to make it smooth. The character of this filling lives in the unevenness, in the moments where you bite through butter and then through pure cheese. Danablu is sharper and saltier than most blue cheeses, so trust it to carry the flavor on its own.

   If your Danablu is straight from the fridge, it will fight the fork and tear instead of mash. Twenty minutes on the counter is enough to soften it. Cooked with love means waiting the twenty minutes.
4. 4

   Combine the filling

   Add the cooled shallot and mushroom mixture to the Danablu butter, along with the breadcrumbs, snipped chives, thyme leaves, a generous grind of black pepper, and a few drops of lemon juice. Fold everything together gently with the fork. Don't add salt. Danablu brings all the salt this filling needs, and more would be a mistake. Taste a tiny bit on the tip of your finger. The lemon should brighten the cheese without showing itself. If it tastes flat, add another drop or two.

5. 5

   Stuff the caps

   Spoon the filling into the mushroom caps, mounding it slightly above the rim. A teaspoon works fine, but your fingers work better. The filling should sit proud of the cap, almost too generous. As the mushrooms cook, the caps will shrink slightly and the filling will settle into the gills, melting through them. If you fill them flush, you'll lose that golden crown on top.

6. 6

   Bake until bubbling

   Bake the mushrooms in the centre of the oven for fifteen to eighteen minutes. You're looking for two things at once: the caps should darken slightly and release a little juice around the base, and the tops of the filling should turn deep amber where the butter and cheese have caramelised. The kitchen will smell of toasted dairy and forest. That's the smell that tells you they're nearly there. You'll know when it's right.

7. 7

   Rest and finish

   Take the tray out and let the mushrooms rest for three minutes before moving them. The filling is volcanic straight from the oven, and the resting time also lets the caps firm up so they don't tear when you lift them. Transfer to a serving plate, scatter with extra chives and a small pinch of flaky sea salt, and serve while still warm. A few thin slices of rugbrod alongside are traditional, more useful than they sound, because the dark rye gives you something to catch the cheese that escapes.

Chef Tips

• •Buy real Danablu if you can. The texture is creamier and the flavor sharper than generic Danish blue, and in a recipe with so few ingredients, the cheese has nowhere to hide. If you can't find Danablu, a good Mycella or another Danish blue is the next best thing. Roquefort works but tastes of somewhere else.
• •These can be assembled hours ahead and held in the fridge until you're ready to bake. Bring them back to room temperature for fifteen minutes before they go in the oven, otherwise the filling stays cold in the centre while the caps overcook.
• •A small glass of cold akvavit alongside is the traditional pairing. If that's not your thing, a crisp Danish pilsner or even a dry riesling works beautifully against the salt of the cheese.
• •Don't be tempted to add more breadcrumbs to thicken the filling. The butter and cheese are meant to soften and pool slightly into the gills. That's the dish.

Advance Preparation

• •The Danablu butter (without the cooked shallot and mushroom stems) can be made up to three days ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Bring it back to room temperature before mixing with the rest of the filling.
• •Stuffed mushrooms can be assembled up to four hours ahead and refrigerated on their tray, covered loosely. Let them sit out for fifteen minutes before baking so the filling isn't fridge-cold when it goes in the oven.
• •These don't reheat well. The mushrooms shed water on the second pass and the filling separates. Bake them once, eat them warm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)