How to make confit garlic and mushroom salad

(Beverley Hicks)

Confit garlic and mushroom salad

Fresh mushrooms are combined with slowly cooked garlic and then covered in a lemon, parsley and garlic dressing.

Serves 2

For the salad

1 whole head of garlic
Olive oil
450g mixed mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and sliced
6 white button mushrooms to garnish

For the dressing

A large handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Juice and zest of one lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 spring onions, finely sliced

Peel the cloves from 1 whole head of garlic and place in a small saucepan. Pour over enough olive oil to just cover them. Over a low heat, bring the oil to a hint of a bubble and then turn the heat down as low as it will go. You want to poach the garlic rather than fry it. Cook for about 25-30 minutes until just golden brown, keep an eye on it, you don’t want it to burn and turn bitter.

Meanwhile, to make the garnish, remove the stalks from each of the white button mushrooms and, using a clean knitting needle or something similar in shape, make two holes into each mushroom for the scull’s eyes. With a sharp knife, mark out the mouth and teeth, don’t cut too deeply, you just want to scratch the surface. Leave to one side.

When golden and soft, remove the garlic with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil and leave to one side to cool with the garlicky oil. In a jar combine 100ml of the reserved garlicky oil with the other dressing ingredients. Screw the lid on tightly and shake to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Tip the sliced mushrooms into a medium bowl along with the confit garlic, pour over the dressing and toss together so that everything is combined. Pile onto serving plates with the mushroom sculls to garnish and serve with thick slices of toast to mop up the garlicky dressing.

Follow Beverley @thelittlechelseakitchen