Tony Jackman’s zesty brown mushrooms, air fryer style. (Photo: Tony Jackman)
Mushrooms can be seasoned with salt and pepper and one or two extra seasonings of your choice, then cooked in 10 to 15 minutes.
These mushrooms were intended as a side-dish to chicken portions I had cooked in my large air fryer. But they can serve other purposes too. Once cooked, they can be scooped out, cooled, sliced and used as a stuffing for an omelette or in a frittata. Or spoon them onto buttered toast and pour the pan juices over to be soaked up by the bread.
I like something zesty with mushrooms. I often use a squeeze or two of lemon juice and also lots of garlic when cooking them in a pan.
To achieve that zestiness in an air fryer I avoided using juice, as the mushrooms have plenty of their own juices which they release during cooking. The juices render out into the pan – in this case the air fryer basket. You can cook them for less time or more – cooking them for longer will enable their juices, which they release when very hot, to cook away to a degree. The longer you cook them, the more the juices will evaporate.
But those juices have their own value. You can think of them as a sauce, to be spooned or poured over the cooked mushrooms when serving. I sometimes pour mushroom juices onto a steak if they’re accompanying that.
Instead of citrus juice, however, I decided to use lime zest, from a lime so ripe that it had turned yellow to resemble a small lemon more than a lime. But taste the juice and it is unquestionably just a very ripe lime.
The only other seasonings were salt and black pepper, but you can use some garlic and/or chilli, or a powdered chilli spice such as cayenne pepper. I also grated some fine zest onto the mushrooms when serving.
These brown mushrooms were medium in size, not the huge ones often found at vegetable markets.
I used a very high-quality olive oil for these – De Rustica Estate Collection Coratina olive oil. Its green olive flavour profile adds some intrigue to the mushrooms’ own taste.
Note that mushrooms soak up olive oil, which is why I used more of it than I might normally use in an air fryer.
Tony’s zesty brown mushrooms in the air fryer
(Serves 2 as a side-portion)
Ingredients
8 medium brown mushrooms
4 to 6 Tbsps De Rustica Estate Collection Coratina olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
Zest of 1 lime
Method
Put the mushrooms in a bowl and add the seasoning, olive oil and half of the zest. Toss well so that everything is evenly coated.
Preheat the air fryer to 190°C.
Cook at 190°C for 15 minutes, shaking the basket after 5 and 10 minutes.
They should be soft with some firmness by now. If you’re not happy, put them in for 2 or 3 minutes more.
Sprinkle the remaining lime zest over when serving. DM
Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the year award, in 2021 and 2023.
Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.
This dish is photographed in a bowl by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.