A Fantastic Valentine’s Day Dinner

Whether you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day or treating February 14 like just another Saturday, we have a menu you’ll love. Instead of pricey takeout or overcrowded restaurants, spend some quality time with your sweetheart — or take some much-deserved “me time” — and make this mushroom-filled menu with recipes from our Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook.

While you’re cooking, savor a mocktail with a dropperful of your favorite Fantastic Fungi Elixir added. Try them in flavored sparkling water, iced herbal tea, probiotic soda or kombucha. 

Appetizer: Warm Endive and Oyster Mushroom Salad

By Annaliese Bischoff, Massachusetts 

Yield: 4 Servings

“I started writing down recipes for the first time in my life in 2010. I happened upon Food52, the recipesharing website, and have contributed 320 recipes as Sagegreen. I got to know people all over the world through this site. I love sharing my recipes, so when I found out about the Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook, I immediately wanted to contribute. This recipe is inspired by my Food52 cooking friend Gingerroot’s wilted kale and shiitake mushroom salad.”

Ingredients 

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup minced shallots

1 teaspoon sliced garlic

1 to 2 teaspoons grated ginger

Freshly ground black pepper

6 ounces oyster mushrooms

1 tablespoon white or black sesame seeds

2 marinated white anchovy fillets, chopped

2 Belgian endives, leaves separated and cut into 2-inch sections

Juice from ½ Meyer or regular lemon 

Pinch of kosher salt

⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro or flat-leafed parsley for garnish

2 whole scallions, chopped on the diagonal for garnish

Drizzle of high-quality white truffle oil, for garnish (optional)

Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish (optional)

Instructions 

In a wide skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté until golden, a few minutes. Stir in the ginger and pepper to taste. Tear the oyster mushrooms into bite-sized pieces and add. Cook for about 5 minutes, flipping the mushrooms over, until they release their liquid. Add the sesame seeds and toast them in a bald spot in the pan for 1 minute or so. Turn the heat down to medium, add the anchovy and endive, and cook until the endive wilts, a few more minutes. Take off the heat, add the lemon juice, and season with salt. Garnish with the cilantro and scallions and, if you like, white truffle oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Main Course: Porcini Lasagna

By Langdon Cook, Washington 

Yield: 4 Servings

For many of us, making Italian food at home means a night of romance: wine (maybe too much of it); endless antipasto of olives, roasted peppers, and prosciutto; some candlelight. It’s an occasion. Having a signature Italian ingredient on hand, such as fresh porcini (translated evocatively as “little pigs”), seals the deal. This recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. While conventional storebought mushrooms, such as cremini and portobello, will suffice, it’s the sweet, nutty flavor of fresh wild porcini that truly makes this dish. Tip: Look for frozen porcini in your supermarket. 

Ingredients 

FOR THE MUSHROOMS

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup diced yellow onion

2 pounds porcini mushrooms, sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon thyme, chopped

1 tablespoon sage, chopped

FOR THE BÉCHAMEL

4 cups milk

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing baking dish

6 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon minced garlic

¼ cup chopped flat-leafed parsley, divided

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper

⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

12 lasagna noodles

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup grated young Asiago cheese, about 4 ounces

Instructions 

TO PREPARE THE MUSHROOMS:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook gently until they are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove to a bowl. 

In the same skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms release their water, the water evaporates, and the mushrooms are fork-tender and light golden, about 10 minutes.

Season with salt and black pepper. Return the onions to the pan and add the thyme and sage. Cook together, stirring, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat.

TO MAKE THE BÉCHAMEL SAUCE:

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and heat to a simmer over medium heat, a few minutes.

In a separate medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir until a paste forms; the paste should darken ever so slightly without becoming too colored, 3 to 4 minutes. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the flour paste. It will boil and thicken quickly, but as you continue to whisk, the sauce will become smooth. The béchamel is ready when it is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 5 minutes. Stir in minced garlic, 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Cover and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the lasagna noodles. Cook for about 12 minutes, until the noodles are al dente. Drain and place in a deep platter. Adding a ladleful of the pasta water will keep the noodles moist and pliant. Mix the cheeses together in a small bowl.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a greased 13-by-9-inch baking dish, assemble the lasagna. Spread a few spoonfuls of béchamel over the bottom of the dish. Place three noodles lengthwise in the dish, then spread about ½ cup of sauce over the noodles, followed by ⅓ of the mushroom-onion mixture, and ⅓ cup of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layers twice more. Top with a final layer of noodles, the remaining sauce, and the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, until lightly browned on top and along the edges. Garnish with the remaining parsley and allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Dessert: Flan With Brown Sugar Candy Cap Syrup

By Pam Krauss, New York 

Yield: 10 (3-ounce) flans

When a friend gave me a jar of dried candy cap mushrooms, it took me a while to figure out what to do with them besides unscrewing the cap occasionally to marvel at their improbable maple-y aroma. When she suggested I use them to flavor a simple syrup, though, a whole world of possibilities opened up, including this easy dessert—the perfect sweet ending to a soup-to-nuts mushroom meal. I chose to use brown sugar for the syrup because its deeper, molasseslike tones complement the earthiness of the mushrooms. It’s also a great way to use up small bits and pieces of candy caps; just strain them out before filling the molds or spoon some into the bottom of each cup and garnish with one or two perfect specimens.

Ingredients 

FOR THE SYRUP

¾ cup light brown sugar, packed

¾ cup water

2 tablespoons candy cap mushrooms (broken shards and powder are fine),

plus a few whole mushrooms for garnish (optional)

Pinch salt

FOR THE CUSTARD

One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

One 10-ounce can evaporated milk

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 vanilla bean, split

Instructions 

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Set 10 small (3- to 4-ounce) ramekins or custard cups in a large roasting pan (or, alternatively, a silicon muffin tray). 

TO MAKE THE SYRUP:

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the mushrooms (pieces and whole mushrooms, if using), and continue to cook over medium heat until reduced to a syrupy consistency, 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain the syrup into a small heatproof pitcher and set aside, reserving the whole mushrooms.

TO MAKE THE CUSTARD:

In a large measuring cup or a mixing bowl with a spout, gently whisk together the milks and eggs just until uniformly combined. Avoid beating the mixture vigorously to prevent adding any air. Using the back of a paring knife, scrape the seeds from the split vanilla bean and gently stir into the egg mixture.

Pour or spoon a generous tablespoon of syrup into the bottom of each ramekin, reserving any remaining syrup. Carefully pour the egg mixture onto the syrup, dividing it equally among the cups and trying not to disturb the syrup. Place the ramekins in a roasting pan and fill the pan with very hot tap water halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully slide the pan onto the middle rack of your oven.

Cook until the flans are just set in the center, about 30 to 35 minutes, but starting to check after 25 minutes. Remove from the oven carefully, avoiding any of the hot water spilling onto the flans. Cool to room temperature then cover the flans and refrigerate until well-chilled and for up to 3 days.

To serve, run a small, sharp knife around the edge of each flan to release it. Cover the ramekin with a dessert plate and invert the flan and the syrup onto it. Decorate with the whole mushrooms, if using, and drizzle with some of the remaining syrup if you like.

If you make these recipes — or any recipe from our cookbook — tag us on social media. We love connecting with our community.  

Our final mushroom-inspired Valentine’s Day tip: Cordyceps supports healthy hormones, energy and libido, making our Energy Elixir a popular gift this time of year.* Read more about Cordyceps.