Mushrooms chopped so finely and cooked so dry that they become a spreadable, concentrated paste. Not a sauce in itself, but the building block behind sauce Italienne, beef Wellington and countless fillings.

Method

Chop

Chop the mushrooms as finely as possible with a sharp knife, or briefly pulse them in a food processor to a coarse crumb; don't blend them to a mush.

Squeeze out the moisture

Put the chopped mushrooms in a clean tea towel and wring out as much moisture as possible over a bowl. Keep the liquid for a stock or soup.

Sweat

Melt the butter and sweat the shallot for 2 minutes until translucent.

Cook dry

Add the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly, until all the remaining moisture has evaporated and the mixture is dark and dry, about 15 minutes.

Finish

Stir in the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Tips & notes

Squeezing out the moisture before frying saves half the time and prevents the mushrooms from stewing instead of frying. Don't skip that step if you are in a hurry. Keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge, and freezes very well (up to 3 months); the flavour often deepens further the next day.

Chef's tip

Named after the Marquis d'Uxelles, whose chef La Varenne is said to have devised the recipe in the seventeenth century. In classical cuisine, duxelles is an 'appareil', a basic preparation rather than a sauce, but without this building block dozens of sauces and fillings would not exist.

Variations

With wild mushrooms – Replace part of the mushrooms with porcini or chanterelles.
Duxelles sèche – Cooked extra long until almost crumbly, for fillings that mustn't turn soggy.
With sherry – Deglaze with a splash of dry sherry for extra depth.

Contains: Milk

Serve with

Beef Wellington
Stuffed tomatoes
Vol-au-vent
Sauce Italienne
Stuffing for poultry

Nutritional values per serving
Calories	131 kcal
Protein	5 g
Carbohydrates	7 g
Fat	10 g
Fibre	2 g

Estimated values, calculated from standard nutritional values per ingredient.