Ingredients

• 12 small sourdough or baguette slicesday-old, so they crisp rather than soften
• 300 g chestnut mushroomsfirm; watery button mushrooms will not brown as deeply
• 30 g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic clovesfinely grated
• 35 g Parmesanfinely grated
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp fine salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. 01

   Toast the bread first

   Heat the oven to 200 C / 180 C fan. Brush the 12 bread slices lightly with some of the 1 tbsp olive oil and bake for 6-8 minutes, turning once, until crisp and golden right through. Toasting before topping is the only thing that keeps them crunchy under a wet topping.

   1 tbsp olive oil

   Toast the bread firstA crostini built on soft bread is a soggy crostini within two minutes.

2. 02

   Brown the mushrooms

   Heat a wide pan over medium-high with the remaining oil, add the 300 g mushrooms in a single layer, unsalted, and leave them for 2-3 minutes before stirring. Cook for 6-8 minutes, in two batches if needed, until the pan is dry and the edges are deeply browned.

   300 g chestnut mushrooms

3. 03

   Garlic butter, once the pan is dry

   Lower the heat to medium, add the butter, the grated garlic cloves and 1 tsp thyme and toss for 1-2 minutes until glossy and fragrant. Garlic added while the mushrooms are still releasing water boils rather than fries, and tastes raw.

   30 g butter · 2 garlic cloves

   Dry pan before garlicMushrooms release a lot of water. Garlic added early stews and turns harsh.

   Spoon the pan butter overWhat is left in the pan is concentrated garlic and mushroom. It seasons the bread too.

4. 04

   Season and sharpen

   Take the pan off the heat and add the lemon juice, the salt and pepper. Toss so the butter in the pan emulsifies with the juices into a loose sauce.

   1 tsp lemon juice

5. 05

   Assemble while both are hot

   Pile the mushrooms generously onto the hot crostini and spoon the garlic butter left in the pan over them. It soaks into the toast and seasons the bread all the way through.

6. 06

   Finish

   Scatter with the Parmesan and, if you want it just melted, return to the oven for 2 minutes. Serve straight away.

   35 g Parmesan