Recipe: Wild Mushroom Gnocchi

Author: Guest Blog  

I love autumn for so many reasons but two of the biggest are 1) the weather is cool, and this means campfires! 2) its mushroom picking season in the pine forest. So, for this little recipe I combined two of my favourite things and went foraging; bringing along my brand-new camp grill and combo cooker set from Campfire Australia and cooked-up lunch right there in the forest.

Ingredients:

  • 250g Gnocchi
  • 6 small freshly foraged wild mushrooms, I used saffron milk caps (or whatever mushrooms you like), cleaned and thinly sliced.
  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 leek, thinly sliced
  • Bunch of fresh sage (8-10 leaves)
  • 50g butter
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • Salt & pepper

Method:

  1. With the grill over the fire, put some water in the deep pan from the combo cooker and get that on to boil (place over the hottest part of the grill to get the water boiling quickly). Generously salt the water.
  2. While the water is boiling put the butter, oil, garlic and leeks into the shallow pan from the combo cooker and place that on the edge of the grill, this gives you a gentle heat and will let the butter melt without burning your leeks and garlic.
  3. To prepare your mushrooms simply wipe the dirt off the top with a cloth or paper towel and thinly slice. I have used saffron milk caps or pine mushrooms because I know what they look like and where to find them, but you can use whatever mushrooms you like (so long as you know they’re edible!). I prefer the small mushrooms as they are softer and tastier but if you can only find big ones then reduce the quantity used in this recipe.
  4. Once the leeks are softened add in the sage leaves and allow to fry in the hot oil for a minute before tossing in the thinly sliced mushrooms. Stirring regularly.  
  5. Once the mushrooms are soft and slippery throw your gnocchi into the boiling salty water and let them cook until they rise to the top.
  6. When the gnocchi are floating on top its time to pop them into the mushroom pan along with a few spoons of water from the pot. This will help deglaze the pan and create a sauce to coat the gnocchi.
  7. Move the pan with all your ingredients in it closer to the centre of the grill (higher heat) and toss for a minute or so until everything is coated, and the sauce is thickened.
  8. Serve immediately, preferably surrounded by pine forests and magic mushrooms. Enjoy!

Once you’ve finished cooking make sure to boil some water in both pans to clean them, give them a wipe out and then season over the fire. Rub them down with some olive oil, allow to cool and store away safely for next time.

Eating fresh pine mushrooms, cooked over the fire, right there in the forest was absolutely amazing and if you know where to find them and what you’re looking for I would encourage everyone to get out and give this a try!

Recipe and images provided by Dimsim Outdoors.