MainsSnacks & starters Turkish
Mushroom kebabs (mantar şiş)
Button mushrooms, peppers and red onion marinated in olive oil, garlic, chilli flakes and oregano, then cooked on the barbecue or under the oven grill.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- 25 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Button mushroom
At a Turkish barbecue, nothing goes better with the meat than mushrooms charred over the coals and cooked in their own juices. Mantar şiş, or mushroom kebabs, are simple: mushrooms soak up a marinade like a sponge, and garlic, pul biber and oregano work their way in within minutes.
No barbecue? A cast-iron griddle pan or the grill setting on your oven works too. What matters is a properly hot heat: mushrooms that brown quickly keep their juices inside, while slow-cooked ones just steam.
Ingredients
Tick them off as you go.
For the skewers
For the marinade
To serve
Method
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-
If you're using wooden skewers, lay them in a tray of water; soaking for at least 30 minutes stops them burning on the grill.
~2 min -
Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth and trim the dry ends of the stalks, but leave the stalks in so the mushrooms hold on the skewer. Cut the peppers and onion into 3 cm pieces.
~10 min -
Whisk the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, chilli flakes, oregano, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the mushrooms and vegetables, toss well with your hands and leave to marinate for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice.
~25 min -
Light the barbecue or heat a griddle to medium-high; if using the oven, turn the grill setting to 250 °C. Thread the mushrooms, peppers and onion alternately onto the skewers, pushing through the centre of each cap so it doesn't split. Save the marinade left in the bowl.
~8 min -
Grill the skewers for 10–12 minutes, turning every 3 minutes and brushing with the leftover marinade as you go. The mushrooms should be browned on all sides, glossy and juicy, and the peppers lightly charred at the edges.
~12 min -
Rest the skewers for 2 minutes, then serve hot with lemon wedges and lavash or bulgur pilaf.
~3 min
Enjoy!
The mushroom in this recipe
Mushroom swaps
- Chestnut mushroom Agaricus bisporusFirmer and more aromatic; cooks in the same time.
King oyster mushroom Pleurotus eryngiiCut the stems into 2 cm rounds; they stay meaty and juicy on the grill.
Shiitake Lentinula edodesRemove the stalks and thread the caps whole; shorten the cooking by 2–3 minutes.
Tips
- Choose small mushrooms of a similar size so they all cook at the same time.
- Don't wash the mushrooms before marinating, just wipe them; wet mushrooms won't hold the marinade or brown on the grill.
- Metal skewers don't need soaking, and flat ones stop the mushrooms spinning round when you turn them.
Storage
Best eaten straight off the grill. Once cool, leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 days; slide them off the skewers and reheat thoroughly in a pan, or add them cold to a salad.
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