Levitha Mushrooms and Manouri.

A trip to the supermarket in Greece can occasionally yield some excellent results although seasonal and local rules here on the islands for the most part.On Patmos I found a pack of mixed mushrooms: button, swiss, shitake and oyster which being such a rarity I snapped up.  Firstly, they went into a red curry but the leftovers that I carefully packed in the veggie box in the fridge so they would last called for some treatment that would make the most of them. You could easily just use button or swiss brown.

Levitha is a tiny dot of an island out in the Aegean. One taverna and nothing but goats, rocks, ruins and an anchorage full of yachts. Nothing to do but think about what to make for breakfast (and lunch and dinner, if I’m honest).  Here’s what I did:

Serves 2 (but can easily be scaled up.  All ingredients are approximate.

2 slices of thin dark rye.

Manouri cheese to spread on bread once its toasted. (I have just discovered you can grill it….might try this next time). Manouri is like a smooth goats milk ricotta and comes off a roll.  How many fingers worth do you want I was asked yesterday!

For the Shrooms:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large clove of garlic, crushed or finely chopped.

1 small red onion finely chopped

Mixed mushrooms 2 or 3 handful’s chopped roughly

3 or 4 leaves of dried sage (stolen from the churchyard yields extra flavour).  Fresh thyme is a good substitute if you haven’t been stealing from churches lately.

3-4 tablespoons of white wine (a good splash)

1 teaspoon of honey (I used Greek thyme honey)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley to garnish.

In a fry pan cook the onion in the oil until translucent and soft.  Add garlic and almost immediately after the mushrooms. Stir fry until brown and cooked through.

Add wine, salt and pepper and sage.  Cook until all liquid is absorbed.  Add honey to balance acidity of the wine (depending of sweetness of wine you may need more or less). Take off heat.

While cooking toast the bread and spread with Manouri.  Top with hot mushrooms and sprinkle with parsley.