Lion’s mane scampi.

Scampi is a sauce more than a dish: garlic, butter, wine, lemon, parsley, and something to carry it. Lion’s mane torn into rough chunks is ideal — the fibres soak up the butter, and the sweetness of the mushroom sits exactly where a prawn would.

Fifteen minutes, one pan, and the bread does most of the work.

What you need

Mushrooms

• 12 oz lion’s mane, torn into large chunks
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Sauce

• 4 tbsp butter
• 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• ½ cup dry white wine
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp parsley, chopped
• Salt, black pepper

To serve

• Crusty bread, grilled
• Or linguine, cooked al dente

Method

1. Tear into chunks roughly the size of a large prawn — bigger than bite-sized, since they will shrink.
2. Dry-sear first. Hot pan, no fat, 4–5 minutes, pressing the chunks down occasionally. Wait for them to stop hissing and start browning.
3. Add the oil and 1 tbsp of the butter, and cook 2 minutes more until the pieces are golden on at least two sides.
4. Garlic and chilli go in for 45 seconds — just to the point where the garlic turns pale gold.
5. Deglaze with the wine, scraping the pan, and let it reduce by half. About 2 minutes.
6. Off the heat, add the remaining butter in pieces, swirling the pan until it emulsifies into a glossy sauce. Then the lemon juice, parsley, salt and plenty of pepper.
7. Serve over grilled bread or tossed with linguine and a splash of pasta water.

Butter off the heat

Adding the butter after the pan is off the flame is what turns wine and fat into a sauce rather than a greasy puddle. Swirl the pan rather than stirring, and add the butter in three or four pieces so it emulsifies. If it splits, a teaspoon of cold water and vigorous swirling brings it back.

Do not skip the dry sear. Lion’s mane straight into butter releases its water into the sauce and dilutes it to nothing.

Other species here

King trumpet in coins is excellent and firmer. Blue oyster torn into strips is the cheap weekday version. Beech mushrooms work well and keep their snap. All are on the harvest board.

Feeding more people

Double the mushrooms but only increase the sauce by half — the ratio is generous to begin with. With linguine it feeds four comfortably; on bread as a starter it stretches to six.

Common questions