Guest Author - Rachel Webb

This is a very simple but delicious tapas dish, available in bars and restaurants throughout Spain. Before launching into a more complicated tapas recipe, give one of these variations a try!

Champiñones al ajillo means Mushrooms with a little garlic.

You can of course add as much garlic as you like, but the quantities in the recipes below are Spanish quantities - wich is usually enough!

Mushrooms are best wiped clean with kitchen paper rather than washed as they tend to absorb water which alters their consistency and taste.

Recipe 1 - Champiñones al ajillo

Ingredients

5 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
450g fresh mushrooms, sliced
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt to taste

Method


Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the garlic. Fry the garlic until it begins to brown and add the mushrooms, stirring continuously. Add salt to taste.

Cook for two minutes, stir in half the chopped parsley and cook for a further minute.

Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the rest of the chopped parsley.

Recipe 2 - Champiñones al ajillo con limón

Ingredients

5 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1kg fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 lemon
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt to taste

Clean, by wiping and slice the mushrooms as finely as you wish. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mushrooms to stop them turning black.

Peel the garlic cloves and chop them up very finely.

In a casserole dish - cazuela - add the olive oil and heat gently, don't let it begin to smoke. Add teh chopped garlic and fry gently, keeping it moving all the time.

Season the mushrooms and add to the pan with the lemon juice. Leave it to simmer on a low heat for five minutes.

Leave to rest for a minute or two and serve in the same cazuela sprinkled with the finely chopped parsley.