Marcus Wareing's mushroom cobbler

Ingredients

Mushroom filling

• 500g of oyster mushrooms
• 500g of flat mushrooms
• 500g of chestnut mushrooms
• 50g of baby spinach
• 25g of garlic, crushed
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Vegetable oil

Scone topping

• 175g of self-raising flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 30g of cheddar, grated
• 100g of butter, cold and diced or grated
• 1 tbsp of fresh tarragon, chopped
• 1 tbsp of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt
• 1 egg, beaten for egg wash
• Ice cold water
• Black pepper

Cheese sauce

• 500ml of milk
• 40g of butter
• 40g of flour
• 1/2 onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cloves
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme
• 50g of mature cheddar, grated
• 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. To prepare the scone topping, mix the flour, baking powder, cheddar, herbs, salt and pepper together. Slowly add the butter then bring the combine together with just enough cold water to make a dough.

2. Rest the scone mix in the fridge for approximately 2 hours. When chilled, roll out the dough to 1cm thickness and cut into rounds using a 3-cm pastry cutter, freeze until required.

3. To prepare the cheese sauce, add the milk, bay leaf, onion, cloves and thyme to a pan over a medium heat and bring to a simmer. Once bubbling, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for half an hour.

4. In the meantime, place a pan over a low heat. Melt the butter in the pan and add the flour, cook for 5 minutes to form a roux.

5. Pass the infused milk through a thin sieve, then whisk into the roux, a large spoon at a time, until all the milk is mixed into the roux. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the flour has been cooked out. Add the cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and keep heated.

6. To prepare the mushroom filling, slice the flat mushrooms into chunky strips, tear the oyster mushrooms into similar size pieces and cut the chestnut mushrooms into fours. Lightly fry in batches in a hot pan with oil until the mushrooms are browned. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. Make an egg wash in a small bowl.

8. Transfer the mushrooms into a large bowl and add the spinach and garlic. Add a sufficient amount of cheese sauce to coat the mushrooms, then transfer into a large pie dish and top with 4 or 5 scones.

9. Brush the scones with egg wash and cook the cobbler until bubbling and golden. Portion the cobbler between 4 and serve immediately

Recipe courtesy of Great British Chefs. Visit their site for more great recipes.