food to glow

Mushroom and artichoke piccata is a delicious vegan take on the classic Italian chicken dish, chicken piccata. With plenty of lemon, white wine, extra virgin olive oil and best vegan butter, this is a rather decadent dish to serve over delicate capellini pasta. And it takes less than 30 minutes from start to demolish.

If you are looking for a dinner recipe that will make everyone who eats it want to hug you, this is it. The taste is bright and zesty, yet with strong umami notes from the mushrooms, and boozy depth. Plus, the sublime textures – slippery, saucy pasta and meaty mushrooms – are real dinner-date material. If you want to treat your partner, or impress the hell out of a partner-in-waiting (!), make this. If it elicits unwanted proposals of marriage, I will not be held responsible.

I jest, of course, but it really is rather good. And a pleasure to eat. As long as your fellow diner(s) isn’t violently opposed to mushrooms (there are such people. It makes me sad.) they will love this. Whether or not they are vegan.

Me and piccata go way back

Making this recipe brings back some lovely memories.

In my early twenties family circumstances meant that I did the cooking in my house. Mom was a 14-hour drive north getting her divinity degree, while I cooked and helped my Dad around the house. Because my parents didn’t ask for rent money I felt it was my duty (and privilege) to at least make dinner for my hard-working Dad.

This was also when I was engaged from afar to my now-husband, Andrew. So, it was actually good practise for my future life in Edinburgh with him. Not that he would have expected me to be the cook of the house, but it is something I already decided that I wanted to do. He was training long and crazy hours to be a nurse. And I was not. 😉

In this limbo time before my marriage I would rush away from work, swing by the store, and grab what I thought were decent bits and bobs to make a meal. To be perfectly honest it was such a long time ago that I only have a hazy recollection as to what I cooked. But I do know that it was mostly from scratch. Even then, before my Public Health master’s degree, I knew that I didn’t want to base my diet around highly processed foods. Besides, I swear I could taste all of the chemicals.

Anyhow, chicken piccata was a favourite of my Dad’s. Over-sized chicken breasts were pounded flat, scaloppine-style, and dredged in seasoned flour. These were then flung into hot oil to crisp up and brown. I would add tiny vinegary capers, fresh Florida lemon, and quite probably a modest slug from a very old bottle of sherry as “fresh” booze was not usually in the house.

So, what pasta did I serve it with? Um, mashed potatoes. This gloriously saucy rich piccata was heretically served over a pile of mash rather than traditional pasta.

Fast forward 30 years. I no longer eat chicken, but this idea still appeals. And I was reminded of it when I recently picked up a couple of boxes of king oyster mushrooms and had the old lightbulb moment. Didn’t those long slices of mushroom look a bit familiar? Smaller, yes. But they sure would do for second acquaintance with piccata.

What does piccata mean?

Merriam-Webster defines piccata to mean “thin slices of meat (veal) that have been dredged in flour, sautéed, and served in a lemon and butter sauce”. Piccata describes the method. The origins are Italian but the piccata-style is popular in the US, where chicken is often used instead of veal. Etymologically piccata is the feminine of piccato, past participle of piccare to lard (meat); probably from French piquer, literally, to prick (or possibly meaning sharp, “piquant”).

So, what’s in this vegan mushroom piccata?

Not a huge shopping list for you this week:

King oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus eryngii). These are creamy-white, fat, columnar mushrooms with a delicious taste when fried. They grow in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa but are available in large supermarkets in many other areas, and at green grocers, too. I tend to find them packaged up as “exotic mushrooms” with the likes of shiitake and maitake. I use these in the recipe too, but mainly the king oyster. If these aren’t easily found, please just use large portobello or field mushrooms.

Lemon. A large-ish one, and very juicy. I used a fat Sicilian one.

White wine or dry sherry. I’ve made this a few times with both wine and sherry and they are both very good. A well-balanced, just off-dry white wine is my preference when using wine. A fino sherry otherwise, but perhaps two tablespoons less than of the wine as it is stronger.

Vegetable stock or broth. I like Marigold Swiss Bouillon powder made up with just-boiled water.

Capers. These add extra pops of piquancy but aren’t absolutely necessary if you don’t have them.

Prepared artichoke hearts. You can use ones in brine or water but the antipasti-style ones are best. Again, if you don’t have them hanging around just leave them out. The mushrooms are the star.

Fats. Yes, plural. Extra virgin olive oil and vegan butter. Here in the UK Naturli is my favourite. It’s really, really tasty! Use good organic dairy butter if you wish.

Parsley. Flat Italian parsley or the curly stuff – whatever you like.

Pasta! Capellini (angel hair) is the usual and extremely good with this. But something like linguine or even tagliatelle would be fine, too. Or mashed potatoes!

**And do serve the mushroom and artichoke piccata with green vegetables or a plain green salad. Balance and all that.

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So, are you tempted to make this rather decadent and saucy little recipe soon? Will it be served with delicate angel hair pasta, or a big pile of mashed potatoes? I know what my Dad will say!

 

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RIPE FOR PINNING!