Tag: taleggio

Easy Mushroom Pie

4 September 2025

Hurray! The mushroom season has started! Last Friday we bought beautiful golden chanterelles (girolles) and white beech mushrooms (shimeji). It’s the time of year to enjoy wonderful dishes such as Cèpes à la Bordelaise or Salad with Mushrooms and Smoked Duck. Will there be bay boletes this year? Or the intriguing Japanese Matsutake? It’s been some time since we last saw these on the market, and we would really love to make Matsutake with Spinach and Ginger again.
We decided to celebrate the start of the season by making an easy Mushroom Pie, packed with rich flavours, nuttiness and a touch of autumn.

Wine Pairing

We treated ourselves to a bottle of Pinot Noir from the Elzas region, made by Sophie Schaal. She produces wine in France and South Africa. The grapes are handpicked and then naturally fermented before ageing in French oak barrels for 10 months. The result is a wine with a deep ruby colour. The aromas suggest black fruit and a touch of vanilla. The taste is well balanced with soft tannins and length.
In general, you’re looking for a wine with red fruit and refined tannins. Some earthiness will match very well with the mushrooms and the taleggio.

What You Need
  • For the Pastry
    • 100 grams of Flour
    • 50 grams of Water
    • 10 grams of Olive Oil
    • 1 gram of Salt
  • For the Filling
    • 250 grams of firm Mushrooms (shiitake, golden chanterelles, beech mushrooms, button mushrooms)
    • 1 Organic Egg
    • 50 grams of Taleggio
    • 50 ml Double Cream
    • Thyme
    • 1 small Garlic Clove
    • Black Pepper
    • Olive Oil
    • 2 slices of Bacon (optional)
What You Do
  1. Combine flour, salt, water and olive oil
  2. Kneed for a minute and store in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Clean the mushrooms and slice if necessary
  4. (Optional) Fry the bacon, let dry on kitchen paper and crumble. Add to the egg mixture (step 11)
  5. Lightly fry the mushrooms in a heavy iron skillet
  6. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and let cool
  7. After 30 minutes: preheat the oven to 180 ˚ C or 355 ˚ F
  8. Combine the egg with the cream
  9. Add lots of thyme and black pepper
  10. Add grated garlic
  11. Add the mushrooms
  12. Slice small cubes of taleggio
  13. Add the cheese to the mixture
  14. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface.
  15. Coat a 22 cm or 9-inch round baking tin with oil or butter
  16. Place the dough in the baking tin
  17. Add the mixture and distribute evenly
  18. Transfer to the oven for 35-40 minutes or until nice and golden
  19. Allow to cool for a few minutes
  20. Remove from the tin and let cool on a wire rack
  21. Serve lukewarm
PS

It tastes even better the next day!

An easy to make mushroom pie with rich flavours
Mushroom Pie ©cadwu

Zucchini with Taleggio

15 May 2025

Zucchini, or courgette, is a favourite summer vegetable. Just think about sliced Trombetta’s, or Stuffed Flowers, or a combination with Farfalle and Fennel. Recently we bought beautiful round zucchinis, ideal to stuff and serve as a side dish. We’ve made these many times, with herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano and Parmesan cheese. Tasty and not difficult to make. However, we think there’s room for improvement. How would it taste if we would use a richer, fatter, more aromatic cheese? We looked in the fridge. Perhaps Appenzeller? Or a traditional Dutch cheese? We decided to use Tallegio, a semi-soft cheese from Italy made from raw cow milk, with a mild taste. It melts easily, which makes it very suitable for this dish and for instance crostini.

Wine Pairing

The zucchini will be a great accompaniment with grilled lamb or chicken. You could also combine the zucchini with pasta or rice, making for a vegetarian meal.
We decided to drink a glass of red wine from the Douro region, produced by Quinta do Crasto. The wine is made from traditional Douro red grape varieties: tinta roriz, touriga nacional, tinta barroca and touriga franca. The wine is fresh, fruity and very pleasant. Its colour is deep ruby and the wine has aromas of ripe red fruit.
In general, we suggest a red wine with flavours and aromas of red fruit and with light tannins.

What You Need
  • 2 round Zucchinis
  • One Garlic Clove
  • Thyme
  • Black Pepper
  • Taleggio
  • Olive Oil
What You Do
  1. Remove the top of the zucchinis
  2. Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F
  3. Use a teaspoon to remove the inside of the zucchini, also of the cap. Be careful not to damage the skin of the zucchini
  4. Use a knife to chop the ‘meat’
  5. Add olive oil to a pan
  6. When warm, add the meat and fry/glaze for a few minutes
  7. Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan
  8. Finely chop the thyme
  9. Add thyme and black pepper. Mix and leave on low/medium heat for a few minutes
  10. Let cool
  11. Fill the bottom half of the zucchini with the mixture
  12. Add a slice of taleggio
  13. Fill the zucchini with the mixture
  14. Add a second slice of taleggio on top
  15. Transfer the stuffed zucchinis and the tops to the oven and fry for 15 minutes or until golden
  16. Serve with the top on the zucchini
PS

The winemaker, Quinta Do Crasto, provides excellent background information. Interesting to read about the weather, the harvest, the production and the timing.

Zucchini with Taleggio ©cadwu
Zucchini with Taleggio ©cadwu

Crostini

5 December 2022

You don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen when serving drinks and you want to enjoy a warm appetizer (snack, finger food, quick nibble)? What to do? Of course: serve crostini! You can prepare them in advance and the only thing you need to do is put them under the grill for 3-5 minutes. A nice crunchy appetizer with a rich taste and intense aroma.

We use taleggio, a semi-soft cheese from Italy with a mild taste. It melts easily, so you need to keep an eye on your oven! If you can’t get hold of taleggio, then use mozzarella instead and add a bit more flavour to the mushroom topping.

What You Need

  • For the Mushroom Topping
    • Button Mushrooms and Shiitake
    • Garlic Cloves
    • Olive Oil
    • Thyme and Rosemary
    • Black Pepper
    • (Excellent) Olive Oil
  • For the Crostini
    • Old, stale Bread (Baguette preferred)
    • Garlic (optional)
    • Excellent Olive Oil
  • Taleggio

What You Do

One day before serving the crostini: clean and chop the mushrooms. Finely chop the rosemary, the thyme and the garlic. Fry the mushroom in olive oil in a heavy iron skillet. Reduce heat, add herbs and garlic. Continue on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mix to a plate and let cool. Transfer to a kitchen aid and on low speed add some olive oil. Taste and add some black pepper. You’re looking for a coarsely chopped mixture, one that you can easily distribute over the crostini. Store in the refrigerator.

Also one day before serving the crostini: slice the bread and toast it. Halve a garlic clove, very gently rub the top of the toasted bread with the garlic and then brush with olive oil. An alternative is to preheat your oven to 180 °C or 350 °F, brush both sides with olive oil and bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Perhaps you need to turn the slices over once. Store in a plastic container.

A few hours before serving the crostini: slice the taleggio (with crust!), top the bread with the mushroom mixture and then with a slice of cheese.

Set your oven to grill, transfer the crostini to the top of your oven, wait for a few minutes and serve immediately.

Crostini with Mushrooms and Taleggio ©cadwu
Crostini with Mushrooms and Taleggio ©cadwu