We’re well into the mushroom season now and we’ve been enjoying our fair share of wild and cultivated varieties at the restaurants. With the exception of morels, which usually sprout between April and early July, we are spoilt for choice for wild mushrooms. A glance into our larders reveals boxes of fresh, meaty ceps, golden girolles, pieds bleus and black trompettes de la mort, whose sinister name bears no relation to their earthy flavour and crisp texture.

This year, the dry summer and wet September has rewarded us with an abundance of girolles. They don’t dry well, so you have to make the most of their short season, and I try to include them in as many recipes as possible. I’m also a fan of ceps (or porcini in Italian). They lend a certain something to any dish, be it a vegetarian omelette, monkfish tails, chicken breasts or prime steak.

Many mushrooms, especially ceps, Japanese shiitake and even truffles, can be dried and preserved. We’ll find a way to make use of every bit – any leftovers are dried in a low oven, then mixed with sea salt and ground into a powder to use as a seasoning for risotto, pasta, chicken or, my favourite, mixed with fresh breadcrumbs as a topping for baked fish fillets.

Open Omelette with Roasted Ceps and Garlic

Serves 1-2

I think of this as the ideal brunch dish or something special to have for breakfast in bed. The nutty flavour of fresh ceps is unrivalled, but you could substitute them for chopped portabella mushrooms when ceps are not in season.

2 tbsp olive oil
200g ceps, cleaned and thickly sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Few sprigs of thyme
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
25g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
3 large free-range eggs, beaten

1 Heat a frying pan with the olive oil then add the ceps and some salt and pepper. Fry for a few minutes over a high heat until golden. Add the thyme, garlic and a few knobs of butter. Fry the mixture, tossing frequently, until the garlic is lightly golden. Take the pan off the heat and sprinkle on the parsley. Drain off the excess fat.
2 Heat a medium omelette pan with a little oil and a few knobs of butter. Pour in the beaten eggs and quickly stir and shake the pan to evenly cook them. When the eggs are almost set, take the pan off the heat. Using a heatproof spatula, fold in a little bit of the edges to neaten the sides, then slide the omelette on to a warm plate. Spoon the mushrooms on top and garnish with the crispy thyme sprigs.

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