--- title: "Gratinated brown mushrooms with three cheeses and a bit of crunch" description: "Enjoy these mushrooms for breakfast, brunch or even as a starter or side dish with supper. Add a bit of crunch to a trio of cheeses for a delicious breakfast that’s cooked under the grill." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "WHAT’S COOKING" author: "Tony Jackman" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/tonyjackman/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-01-26-lekker-brekker-monday-gratinated-brown-mushrooms-with-three-cheeses/" published: "2026-01-26T06:00:00" updated: "2026-01-25T15:22:05" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 401 --- # Gratinated brown mushrooms with three cheeses and a bit of crunch > Enjoy these mushrooms for breakfast, brunch or even as a starter or side dish with supper. Add a bit of crunch to a trio of cheeses for a delicious breakfast that’s cooked under the grill. By Tony Jackman · Published 26 January 2026, 08:00 SAST · Updated 25 January 2026, 17:22 SAST ## Key points - Tony Jackman cooks up a delicious breakfast of gratinated brown mushrooms topped with a trio of cheeses of your choice. Show off your creativity by using whatever cheese you have in the fridge, The simple breakfast recipe involves grilling mushrooms and filling them with a cheesy mixture before finishing under the grill. Award-winning food writer Tony Jackman once again emphasises easy-yet-flavourful cooking. - Delicious breakfast featuring gratinated brown mushrooms topped with a customisable trio of cheeses. - Recipe offers flexibility in cheese choices, encouraging creativity with ingredients on hand. - Simple method involves grilling mushrooms and filling them with a cheesy mixture before finishing under the grill. - Recipe by award-winning food writer Tony Jackman, emphasising easy-yet-flavourful cooking. ## Content Three cheeses on top of a pizza or in a pasta sauce make for a winning and popular dish. In this variation, your choice of three cheeses can vary according to your personal preferences or what happens to be in the fridge. I used boerenkaas, mozzarella and blue cheese. The first two are good for melting, with the mozzarella adding that stringiness that it is famous for. I love blue cheese, but I always use it sparingly, as it is one of those things that proves that a little really does go a long way. But if you have Cheddar in the fridge, a bit of goat’s cheese and some leftover Emmenthal, well, just use those. The quantity of cheese used is not a hard and fast rule at all. You don’t even need to measure or weigh it. Just use your eye when mixing and you should be able to gauge when what’s mixed in the bowl is enough to fill four mushrooms. ### Ingredients 4 large brown mushrooms A little olive oil Salt 120g boerenkaas, grated 120g mozzarella, grated 120g blue cheese, crumbled 1 baby red bell pepper, diced 2 spring onions, diced Salt to taste White pepper to taste ### Method Preheat the oven grill. Using a small knife (I used a paring knife), carefully cut out the stems at the centre of the mushrooms. Grease a metal oven pan with oil, lightly. Lightly oil the top (caps) of the mushrooms. Season the caps of the mushrooms lightly with salt and place the mushrooms on the greased pan, cap-side up. Place them under the grill for about 10 minutes or until the caps have browned. They will have released their juices. Pour this off. Meanwhile, add all the grated/crumbled cheese to a bowl. Dice the pepper and spring onions and stir them in. Season with salt and white pepper and stir. Turn the mushrooms over and salt the cavities lightly. Spoon the cheese mixture equally in the cavities of the four mushrooms, pressing down so that the filling is held firmly. Place under the grill and cook until the cheese has melted. Ideally, leave them for the cheese to gratinate a little — that is, turn golden brown and bubbly. That’s when you’ll be dying to tuck in. **DM** *Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.* *Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram [@tony\_jackman\_cooks](https://www.instagram.com/tony_jackman_cooks/).*