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Culinary Explorer
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Pincho de Champiñón de Logroño
Created by
This Riojan pincho is bread, griddled mushroom caps, a prawn, and hot garlic oil. The whole trick is searing the mushrooms hard enough that they brown before they flood the pan.
Sandwiches & Wraps
Spanish
Quick Meal
Potluck
Outdoor Dining
15 min
Active Time
15 min cook•30 min total
Yield12 pinchos
El pincho de champiñón de Logroño belongs to La Rioja, and more exactly to Calle Laurel: mushroom caps cooked on the plancha, stacked on bread, crowned with a prawn, then flooded with garlicky oil. It isn't a sandwich trying to be tidy. It's a bar bite built to be eaten standing up, before the bread gives in.
The method that decides it is the heat under the mushrooms. They must hit a hot pan cut side down and brown fast, so their juices stay sweet and concentrated instead of running out into a grey puddle. Salt them after they take colour, not before. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and then trust the pan.
If you are far from Logroño, use firm white button mushrooms or small cremini, all close in size, and a good rustic baguette. The flavour changes a little with cremini, earthier and darker, but the pincho still holds. For the prawn, a small peeled shrimp is enough; this is not the place for grand seafood. The bread catches the oil, the mushroom gives its juice, and you eat it at once. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Logroño's Calle Laurel is one of La Rioja's best-known streets for pinchos, each bar often becoming known for one repeated bite rather than a long menu. The champiñón pincho is tied especially to the local habit of moving from bar to bar with a glass of Rioja and one small plate, not to a national idea of tapas as a cuisine. Mushrooms suit the region's plain, generous bar cooking: quick heat, garlic, bread, and wine at the elbow.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small white button mushrooms or small cremini mushrooms
Quantity
36, about 500g total
stems trimmed level with the caps
small peeled prawns or shrimp
Quantity
12, about 120g
thawed and patted dry
rustic baguette
Quantity
12 slices
cut 1.5cm thick
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
100ml
garlic cloves
Quantity
5
finely minced
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely chopped
dry white wine or fino sherry
Quantity
1 tablespoon
white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
3/4 teaspoon, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
olive oil, for the pan
Quantity
1 tablespoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small white button mushrooms or small cremini mushroomsstems trimmed level with the caps | 36, about 500g total |
| small peeled prawns or shrimpthawed and patted dry | 12, about 120g |
| rustic baguettecut 1.5cm thick | 12 slices |
| extra virgin olive oil | 100ml |
| garlic clovesfinely minced | 5 |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 2 tablespoons |
| dry white wine or fino sherry | 1 tablespoon |
| white wine vinegar | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | 3/4 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| olive oil, for the pan | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide cast-iron griddle or heavy frying pan
- •Small saucepan
- •12 wooden toothpicks or short skewers
Instructions
- 1
Trim the mushrooms
Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth and trim the stems so the caps sit flat. Keep them whole. Choose mushrooms close in size, or the small ones shrivel while the large ones are still pale.
Do not soak mushrooms in water. They already carry enough moisture, and a wet mushroom browns badly. - 2
Make the garlic oil
Put the 100ml olive oil, minced garlic, parsley, wine or fino, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a little black pepper in a small pan. Warm it gently for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the garlic smells sweet. Do not brown it; scorched garlic turns bitter and ruins the pincho faster than any fancy mistake.
- 3
Toast the bread
Toast the baguette slices lightly on one side, just enough to give them a little strength. They need to catch the mushroom juices and the oil without collapsing at once. Set them on a platter, toasted side up.
- 4
Sear the mushrooms
Heat a wide griddle or heavy frying pan until properly hot, then film it with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Put the mushroom caps cut side down and leave them alone for 3 to 4 minutes, until deeply browned. Turn them, season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until tender and glossy but not collapsed.
- 5
Cook the prawns
Push the mushrooms to one side or use the same hot pan after lifting them out. Cook the prawns for 30 to 45 seconds per side, just until pink and firm. Small prawns are enough here; overcook them and they turn bouncy, and nobody asked for that.
- 6
Stack and sauce
For each pincho, stack three mushroom caps on a slice of bread, set one prawn on top, and pin the stack with a toothpick. Spoon the warm garlic oil generously over the mushrooms so it runs down into the bread. Serve at once. This is the whole rule of Logroño's champiñón: cook it hot, sauce it well, eat it before the bread sogs.
Chef Tips
- •Buy small, firm mushrooms with closed caps and dry surfaces. If they are spongy or sweating in the packet, leave them there. Sourcing wins; a sad mushroom gives a sad pincho.
- •Cremini mushrooms work if white button mushrooms are poor where you are. They taste deeper and a little less like the Calle Laurel version, but they brown well and hold their shape.
- •Use a wide pan and cook in batches if needed. Crowding traps moisture, and then the mushrooms simmer instead of sear. That is how a good pincho becomes wet bread with regrets.
- •Serve with a young Rioja tinto or a chilled white from the region. The pincho is rich with oil and garlic, so the wine should refresh, not wrestle.
Advance Preparation
- •The garlic oil can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Warm it gently before using so the garlic softens and the oil runs freely.
- •Trim the mushrooms a few hours ahead and keep them uncovered in the refrigerator on a tray lined with kitchen paper. Cook them only at the last minute.
- •Do not assemble the pinchos ahead. The bread is meant to catch the sauce, not sit under it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 70g)
Calories
140 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
15 mg
Sodium
250 mg
Total Carbohydrates
10 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
5 g
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