Radicchio and Mushroom "Pies" With Cream Sauce

I know hat you're thinking-and I didn't think it would work either. I'm as surprised as you are. I loosely followed the technique (but not really the recipe) in Sergio Mei's book, Ne Carne Ne Pesce. Obviously, fresh porcini mushroom caps aren't available in rural Nebraska so I was forced to make do with regular old button mushrooms. I completely improvised the sauce. It did however make for an impressive dinner.

You Will Need:

1-2 heads of radicchio (depending on size. As you only use the inner leaves, a large head doesn't buy you much except scrap).
8 oz package of mushrooms (portabellas, button mushrooms, etc.)
¼ teaspoon minced garlic(you may prefer more or less)
Pinch of dried savoury
Salt and pepper
4-5 sprigs parsley
Olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallots
¼ cup white dry breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


Wash and trim the radicchio discarding outer leaves. In boiling water, blanch the leaves for about a minute. Drain and leave in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When cool, drain well and pat dry.

In a food processor, combine garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs salt and pepper. Remove to bowl and add about 1 teaspoon olive oil.

Sauté the sliced mushrooms in olive oil along with the shallots and salt and pepper. Toss on the savoury toward the end.

Take four ramekins and line them with the radicchio leaves, letting them hang well over the top and sides. You will use this overlap to seal the tops. Place some of the parsley mixture in the bottom, and then add a layer of mushrooms. Add a layer of Parmesan cheese and repeat with the parsley mixture. Close the top by folding down the radicchio leaves. When all four are complete, carefully unmould into a baking dish (I used a corning ware casserole). Top each with something decorative (I used roasted red peppers but an olive or tomato would work fine) and bake for about ten minutes-as everything is pretty much cooked, you're just heating them through and melting the cheese.

Serve with a cream sauce (I improvised one by de-glazing the drippings in the pan from the mushrooms and using butter, cream, and vermouth with a bit of stock. I followed the spirit of Mei's recipe but then went off in my own direction. The results were OK, though if you have a cream sauce recipe that works for you it is probably better than what I devised).