Mushrooms on toast for a slow Sunday breakfast

Some breakfasts need no plan at all. On a grey autumn Sunday, when nobody is in a hurry, I fry a pan of mushrooms with butter, garlic and thyme and pile them on thick toast. It takes fifteen minutes, it smells wonderful, and it feels much more generous than it costs.

I use ordinary shop mushrooms: chestnut mushrooms are my favourite, because they are firmer and taste deeper than white ones, but a mix works well, with a few flat mushrooms or a handful of oyster mushrooms if they are on offer. For two people I take 300 g.

One rule matters more than any recipe. I only cook mushrooms that come from a shop or a trusted seller. Some wild mushrooms that grow in parks and woods in autumn are poisonous, a few of them dangerously so, and some of the poisonous ones look very like the edible ones. I never pick wild mushrooms myself, and I never let the children bring them home to eat. If a child does put a wild mushroom in their mouth, I take it away, keep a piece to show, and call NHS 111 for advice.

Shop mushrooms do not need soaking. I brush off any soil with a piece of kitchen paper, or give them a very quick rinse and dry them straight away, then slice them thickly. Thin slices turn to mush.

The pan is the secret. I use my widest frying pan and heat it well before anything goes in, then add a little oil and the mushrooms in one layer. If the pan is crowded, they release water and stew instead of browning, so for more than two people I fry them in two batches. I leave them alone for two or three minutes until the underside is golden, then stir and let them colour on the other side.

Only when they are browned do I add a knob of butter, a crushed clove of garlic and a few leaves of fresh thyme. The butter foams, the garlic softens for a minute without burning, and the kitchen smells like a café. At the end I add salt and black pepper. Salting earlier draws out the water and stops the browning. A squeeze of lemon or a spoonful of crème fraîche is lovely, but not necessary.

Meanwhile I toast two thick slices of good bread, sourdough if we have it, and butter them. The mushrooms go on top straight from the pan, with all the buttery juices, and a little chopped parsley if there is some in the fridge. A fried or poached egg on top turns it into a proper meal; I cook the egg until the white is completely set, and for anyone pregnant, very young or elderly, I cook the yolk firm too, unless the eggs carry the British Lion mark, in which case a runny yolk is fine for them.

Raw mushrooms keep best in the fridge in a paper bag, not in plastic, where they go slimy. I use them within a few days. Cooked mushrooms that are left over go into a covered box in the fridge within two hours and get eaten the next day, in an omelette or stirred through pasta, heated until steaming.

Mushrooms on toast. Serves 2. About 15 minutes. You need 300 g chestnut or mixed mushrooms, 1 tbsp oil, a knob of butter, 1 garlic clove, a few sprigs of thyme, salt, pepper and 2 thick slices of bread. Slice the mushrooms thickly and fry in a hot, uncrowded pan until browned on both sides. Add the butter, garlic and thyme for a minute, season, and pile onto buttered toast.

What is your favourite slow weekend breakfast?