Roasted Mushrooms in Ata Din Din

Roasted Mushrooms in Ata Din Din
Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Roscoe Betsill. Prop Stylist: Getteline Rene.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(719)
Notes
Read community notes

Earthy mushrooms hold their own among a piquant red pepper relish — a riot of flavors. The relish’s base is known in Yoruba as ata din din, a condiment like sauce common throughout West Africa made from ground bell pepper, onions, chiles and sometimes tomatoes. Roast the mushrooms until lightly browned and crisp, as they absorb a lot more flavor when they've been slightly dehydrated. Pickled onion adds crunch and a hint of acid, and a scattering of fresh herbs gives it all a refreshing lightness, while being a pretty garnish. Serve over steamed rice and fried sweet plantains, or reserve as a vegetable filling for moin moin.

Featured in: Connecting With West Africa’s Plant-Based Past

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2pounds mixed mushrooms, such as button, cremini, oyster, maitake and shiitake, cleaned, trimmed and torn or cut into 2-inch pieces, if large
  • 8thyme sprigs
  • ½cup neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
  • Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
  • 1small red onion, peeled, trimmed and halved lengthwise
  • 3tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1(12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained
  • 2garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1(1-inch) piece ginger, scrubbed and cut into slices
  • 1red scotch bonnet or habanero chile, cut in half lengthwise
  • ½cup chopped fresh mixed herbs, such as cilantro, dill or parsley, or a combination
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

376 calories; 29 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 938 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 425 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Spread the mushrooms and thyme sprigs in an even layer on a sheet pan and drizzle with ¼ cup oil. Season with salt and, using your hands, toss to coat. Roast, turning the pan halfway through and tossing the mushrooms, until mushrooms are golden brown and crisp along the edges, about 25 to 35 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, prepare the ata din din: As the mushrooms roast, finely chop half of the red onion and transfer it to a small bowl. Add the vinegar, season with a pinch of salt and set aside to pickle while you continue cooking. Using a food processor, coarsely chop the remaining half onion, the roasted red peppers, garlic and ginger. Alternatively, you can chop each ingredient with a sharp knife.

  4. Step 4

    In a large (12-inch) skillet, heat the remaining ¼ cup oil over medium. Add the red-pepper mixture and chile halves to the skillet and bring up to a simmer. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until any liquid from the vegetables evaporates and the relish turns a shade darker, about 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt. Remove the thyme sprigs from the mushrooms and add the mushrooms to the red-pepper relish. Stir to combine.

  5. Step 5

    Remove from heat, discard the chile pieces and add in the chopped herbs. Stir to combine. Drain the pickled red onion and top the mushrooms with it. Serve hot, alongside some steamed rice or a grain of your choice and fried sweet plantains.

Ratings

4 out of 5
719 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

A very effective shortcut to this recipe, especially when cooking for one or when time is short, is to simply use a jar of Harrissa for the sauce. It has most of the ingredients specified in the recipe. You can add some additional onion, garlic and ginger or whatever else you like.

Is there a viable substitute for the type of chiles called for in the recipe? We are ok with some spice but really can’t handle Scotch bonnet- level heat.

You can always alter the spice level. Try a Serrano or Fresno Chile taste will be the same with less heat - still good

If the Scotch Bonnet Pepper is too hot for your taste you may want to check out the Scoville Scale for a milder substitute. Here is a link: https://pepperjoe.com/pages/hot-pepper-heat-scale

Keep the mushroom pieces fairly big. I sliced button mushrooms into about 4 pieces that were 2” long, and I ended up getting them too dark brown. If you smell burning, you’re doing it wrong. But even with too-dark mushrooms, it still tasted good!

I was married to a man from Nigeria and, for the times we (ok I) needed to cut down the habanero level heat, we used a Portuguese product called Pimenta Moida - a salty, liquid crushed red pepper in a jar. Some are fermented, some have vinegar added which works here. Having grown up with grandparents who canned their own, I put it in almost everything. It adds some heat but there are no dried seeds to get caught under your tongue and burn a hole through it.

I made this tonight with some past-their-prime portabellos and creminis. Didn’t use any kind of pepper, accidentally over cooked the garlic in the topping and it was still DELICIOUS and beautiful. Served with roast beef, very good combination. Thank you very much.

The chiles are ultimately discarded, not eaten. But you can always leave something out if you don't like it, or substitute something more mild.

Delicious ( even though mushrooms were past prime) and perfect for wet, rainy night. I served with cooked farro and added roasted sunflower seeds with the cilantro. Used shallots instead of red onion, because that was what I had.

Delicious - and pretty easy to boot for a weeknight! Served with some tempeh to round it out.

Really tasty. What’s not to like about pickled red onion. How to serve? Lunch with other salads? I had a piece of Ezekiel bread.

I tore a block of extra firm tofu into pieces to roast with the mushrooms for added protein. Very satisfying!

Really, really good. My only note is to just chop the peppers, ginger, onion and garlic unless you hate knife work more than washing your food processor.

I was impressed by the results. Served it with puré de mandioca (yuca/cassava purée; also in the app) and loved it. Served it with a quality Kabinet Riesling. Wow!

For those worried about spice or who don't have habanero/scotch bonnet chiles: Made this with a de-seeded fresno chile and it was hardly spicy at all, even after finely chopping the chile up at the end and putting it back into the dish. Had a very light kick.

I loved this! The flavor was deep and layered. I used oyster and shiitake mushrooms (torn into large 2-inch pieces rather than cut) and followed the recipe exactly. I had some jalapeños in my garden so I just used those. My only note is that next time I'll add a bit less than 1/4 cup of oil to the pan when cooking down the red pepper mixture. It ate juuuust slightly greasy, but otherwise it was pretty close to perfect.

Delicious. The simmering of the relish probably should be longer so that the flavors meld more completely---this tasted better two days later as leftovers. I agree with a previous poster--the oil can be cut way back. I use parchment paper when roasting vegetables and that is one way to use less oil. A jalapeno worked fine for me--the store was out of habaneros. I included a medley of oyster, maitake and shiitake which I don't think added much to the creminis I used for the rest.

Good. Better than expected.

I love the flavor in this recipe. I used a mix of baby bellas, baby shiitakes, and classic white button mushrooms. Sprinkled powdered thyme instead of using thyme sprigs. My biggest comment is that I think it still works well with about half the oil. Because I’ve recently returned to veganism, I ate it over rice as a main meal, with the fried plantains on the side. My West African husband loved it as well - and he’s not usually a vegan or a fan of mushrooms!

Really, really good. I forgot to get the spicy pepper when I went to the store, so I just used some red pepper flakes. Made it with Harissa Chicken Thighs and some rice. What a fabulous combination! Probably would use a bit less than 1/4 cup of oil when cooking the pepper/chile mix next time.

Made this a 2nd time but with farmers market mushrooms instead of the store. If last time was a 5, this time was a 9. Friends didn’t want rice so (even though it’s not true to the origins of the dish) I served it on polenta. Spectacular.

I used jalapenos (b/c I had them) and they weren't too hot, but I didn't get the mushroom earthiness enough. Somehow the flavors didn't meld for me. I need to try again. I served on quinoa as we have eaten a lot of rice. Served with a cucumber/tomato/basil vinaigrette. Maybe I didn't have enough ata din din.

Very good. Used only creminis and it took a little longer to evaporate all the liquid; didn't wait for crispy. With the food processor, the ginger pieces were too big, so I would recommend processing all but the peppers first a bit, or chopping up the ginger, if you want discernible pieces of pepper like the picture. Else it's probably also great as a sauce. Served with pan-fried haloumi cheese and slightly toasted naan. Kind of a deconstructed pizza. Lovely vegetarian dinner.

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