Puffball Parmesan

Fried slices of giant puffball layered like eggplant parmigiana with tomato sauce, béchamel, mozzarella and Parmesan, then baked until bubbling. It is the most popular thing foragers make from a big puffball, and it suits the mushroom well: breading gives the soft flesh a crisp shell, and the sauces supply the flavour a mild puffball lacks.

Untested: I have not cooked this one yet. It is here because the Mushrooms dive needed it, and it is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

⚠ Slice the puffball top to bottom first and confirm it is pure white throughout. The giant puffball page explains why.

Ingredients

• 1 young giant puffball (about 2 lb), pure white inside
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups breadcrumbs

Oil, for shallow frying

• Sauces and cheese
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups béchamel (white sauce)
• 4 oz mozzarella, sliced or grated
• 2 oz Parmesan, grated

Directions

Key ingredients

Campfire Giant Puffball Steaks (Jeff’s)

1. Check and slice. Cut the puffball top to bottom and confirm it is uniform white. Peel it if the skin is tough, and cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick.
2. Bread. Dredge each slice in seasoned flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.
3. Fry. Shallow-fry in hot oil until crisp and golden on both sides, then drain on a rack. Puffball soaks up oil, so fry at a good heat and don’t let the slices sit in the pan.
4. Layer. Heat the oven to 375 °F. In a baking dish, layer tomato sauce, fried puffball, béchamel and mozzarella, and repeat. Finish with sauce, béchamel, mozzarella and a heavy coat of Parmesan.
5. Bake. Bake, or finish under the broiler, until bubbling and browned on top. Rest 10 minutes before cutting.

Notes

Where this recipe came from Adapted from Alan Bergo’s “Puffball Parmesan” at Forager Chef (foragerchef.com). His quantities are 4 oz mozzarella, 2 oz Parmesan, a batch of tomato sauce and a batch of béchamel over crisp fried puffball. On the béchamel he is emphatic: “Don’t skip the bechamel if you want the real deal.” The breading and oven temperature here are standard eggplant-parmigiana practice, not his published figures.

The puffball Only young puffballs that are firm and pure white are edible. Old ones turn yellow, then olive-green, then brown inside. See the Mushrooms dive’s giant puffball page.

About the photo The photo shows a giant puffball sliced open. It is pure white inside, the edible stage. No open-licensed photograph of the finished dish was found.