Food blogger champions versatile chanterelles

Food blogger Mari-Liis Ilover told ERR’s Terevisioon programme that chanterelles are often undervalued, and demonstrated recipes for chanterelle pesto and a mushroom solyanka soup base.

Ilover said chanterelles were sometimes dismissed because they were plentiful and considered unremarkable in taste. She said that view was mistaken, describing the mushrooms as pleasant, nutty and slightly sweet.

Her chanterelle pesto uses conventional pesto ingredients, including grated Parmesan, basil, parsley, pine nuts, garlic and a little lemon juice. Other nuts or sunflower seeds can also be added. Ilover fries the mushrooms in olive oil before blending them with the other ingredients, although they can also be crushed with a mortar and pestle.

The pesto can be eaten on its own or with bread. Mixing it with cream creates a pasta sauce, she said.

For a chanterelle sauce, Ilover first heats the mushrooms in a dry pan so that their water evaporates. She adds fat only afterwards, which helps the mushrooms remain pleasantly crunchy in the sauce.

The soup base contains fried chanterelles, crushed tomatoes, carrots and onions that have been stewed. Meat, pickles or olives can also be added. The solyanka base can be stored in a jar in the refrigerator and used as a topping for toast or as a side dish with a main course.

Ilover said chanterelles were also well suited to preserves and retained their quality particularly well when preserved.