Not only is this recipe great for brunch, it’s also a delicious option for a vegetarian main meal. Good quality mushrooms are mandatory since they’re one of the stars of the show. The other star, a perfectly poached egg, when cut open oozes golden yolk to take this dish over the top.
I had something similar to this a few years ago at a restaurant called Oliver and Bonacini. I have no idea what the menu item was called. Mushroom Bruschetta? Mushroom Eggs Benedict? Whatever it was called, it was so good! The mushrooms had so much flavour and the combination of the soft egg yolk and peppery arugula was perfect. I’ve worked really hard on this one and I think I’ve finally got a pretty close rendition of what we had that day. Sadly, the restaurant is no longer there so I can’t go back and beg for the recipe!
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Include some dried mushrooms in your mixture so you get that real earthy flavour. Dried Porcini mushrooms are a good choice because they have a deep woodsy flavour but aren’t as chewy as some other varieties. Or, look for mixed exotic mushrooms so you can experience a few different types. Once hydrated, dried mushrooms expand quite a bit, usually about triple their size or more. They just need a soak in hot liquid for 20 to 30 minutes and they’re good to go. Make sure you strain and save the soaking liquid which has loads of flavour.
While your dried mushrooms are soaking, clean and slice the fresh ones. When buying mushrooms it’s important to know what to look for to ensure they’re at their peak. Choose the ones that don’t have dark areas or a shrivelled exterior. The under side tells a lot. The membrane around the stem in standard white or brown mushrooms should not be exposing the gills. If the stems are splitting and look dark or slimy, skip those. Loose mushrooms allow you to select the best ones and you’ll be able to give them a sniff. They shouldn’t smell too strong or, gasp, fishy.
For Mushroom Toast with Poached Egg and Arugula, any fresh mushroom variety works well. I usually go for brown ones which are also called Crimini. And, did you know they are actually baby Portobellos? If they’re fairly clean you can just give them a wipe with a damp paper towel. There’s no harm in giving mushrooms a quick rinse if they’ve got some debris on them. And trim the stems if they seem woody but don’t pull them off, they’re edible too!
In order to get lots of flavour from the fresh mushrooms, spread them without crowding in the pan and sauté in butter. Let them sit until they develop a golden colour, then turn them. For best results, cook them in a few batches, then add them all back in the pan, along with the soaked chopped mushrooms. Add the garlic last so it doesn’t burn.
Once all the mushrooms are golden, add a splash of wine to the pan and cook until the wine has evaporated. The acidity of the wine helps to cut the richness of the buttery mushroom mixture. You can skip this if you don’t want to add alcohol. But don’t skip seasoning with salt and pepper, and a little fresh thyme is a perfect match for the ingredients. Add the strained soaking water and simmer until reduced by about half.
How to Poach an Egg
If you aren’t familiar with poaching eggs, there’s a few tricks to make sure you get perfectly poached eggs.
- Use fresh eggs and keep them refrigerated until you’re ready to poach them. Fresh cold eggs stay together better.
- Add a spoonful of vinegar to the water before you add the eggs. This helps prevent them from spreading out too much in the water.
- Crack the egg first into a bowl before adding to the water in case the yolk breaks. Those ones can be used for something else like an Omelette or Overnight Breakfast.
- When the water is just barely boiling, using a slotted spoon, stir the water in a circular pattern to create a “vortex”. Gently tip the egg into the middle of the simmering water.
- Cook uncovered for about 3 minutes. You don’t want the water to boil, just a gentle simmer so no more than medium heat.
- Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towel. This will soak up any of the boiling water left behind.
In a perfect world you would poach one egg at a time. But you can drop 2 or 3 eggs into the water, hopefully spacing them apart and not having any casualties. You can actually refrigerate poached eggs and reheat them later so if you’re making this to impress someone, or you haven’t made poached eggs before, try them one at a time, and then gently lower them back into simmering water for about 30 -60 seconds each before serving to reheat them.
An option if you’re nervous about poaching eggs is to soft boil them. Gently add whole uncracked eggs in their shell into simmering water. Usually a large egg that’s been refrigerated will take about 6 minutes. Maybe 7. Remove from the water and quickly rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. The upside is you have a nice looking egg with no waste. The down side is they can be tricky to peel because they’re soft inside.
Below are 2 soft boiled eggs on the left, one poached in water without vinegar on the top right and one with vinegar on the bottom right. Poaching time is about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes for a soft poached egg. It doesn’t matter which method you use, as long as the yolk is soft.
To assemble Mushroom Toast with Poached Egg and Arugula, slice fresh white French or Italian bread into thick slices. Lightly butter both sides and give them a light grill on each side. Top with a generous amount of the mushroom mixture, a warm poached egg, then a handful of fresh arugula.
Add some fresh cracked black pepper over top and a little drizzle of olive oil. Then cut the egg open and watch the soft yolk ooze out and mix with the mushrooms.
If you make Mushroom Toast with Poached Egg and Arugula, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Mushroom Toast with Poached Egg and Arugula
Ingredients
- 14 gram package dried mushrooms about ⅓ cup dried mushrooms
- 1 cup boiled water strained after soaking mushrooms, save ½ cup
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 10-12 fresh white or crimini mushrooms, medium sizes or mixture of both
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 Tbsp dry white wine optional
- ½ tsp salt
- 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 thick slices French or Italian bread
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 poached eggs or soft boiled
- handful fresh arugula
- cracked black pepper for garnish
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil optional to drizzle over top
Instructions
- Cover dried mushrooms with boiled water and allow to hydrate for at least 20 minutes.
- Clean and slice mushrooms. Sauté in butter until soft and browning. Cook in batches to prevent steaming. Add all mushrooms back into pan and add sliced garlic.
- Drain porcini mushrooms, reserving liquid. Chop and add to mushroom mixture.
- Add wine to mushrooms in pan and cook until evaporated.
- Strain reserved soaking liquid using cheesecloth or coffee filter. Add ½ cup to mushrooms along with fresh thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until liquid is reduced by about half.
- Meanwhile, poach eggs for 3 minutes. Drain on paper towel.
- Butter both sides of sliced bread and grill to slightly warm and toast. Top with generous amount of mushroom mixture (remove thyme sprigs). Place poached egg over top and garnish with fresh arugula.
- Add cracked black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.
Looks lovely.
Chef Kev was with me when we first had it so he helped me figure out the recipe! So it’s a winner for sure!
H will love this !!!
It has so much flavour!
I ordered this while having dinner with Marci. It was on the menu as mushroom brioche with poached egg and arugula. I was so impressed it went on a few menus, lunch, brunch etc. Soooo good. You have to try this. Didn’t it have a drizzle of something on it Marci?
Yes, I think it was evoo or something simple like that.
Excellent!! So flavorful!!