IIt is enriching to observe other people's passions. About a decade ago I worked with Antonio Carluccio. His love of mushrooms is so intense it makes you marvel. "Mushrooms are so different," he told me with childlike wonder. Porcini, or "little pigs"?, as we call them in Italy, are the king of mushrooms. They are dark brown, meaty. But chanterelles are more delicate – as yellow as egg yolks and smelling of apricots."

Antonio used to fantasise about creating a ballet set in the bosky world of fungi with a cast of dancing mushrooms; he also wanted to write a book about mushroom-picking titled The Silent Hunt. The phrase made me think of my first mushroom-picking trip, in France. My exchange partner was only 14 but had enough knowledge not to poison us. I wouldn't dream of going on my own, but with an expert it does indeed become a silent hunt. You concentrate in an almost meditative way, your nostrils filled with the smell of leaves and earth.

Mushroom-hunting is normal in Italy, France and Scandinavia but not in Ireland. Perhaps we don't feed our children enough mushrooms. I like dishes in which opposing flavours work together – sweet tomatoes with salty feta cheese, for example – but wild mushrooms are so intense that you have to let them stand alone, or pair them with foods that have similar characteristics such as game, venison or beef. That is what makes them so enjoyable – that assertive, almost masculine flavour. Wild mushrooms are expensive, of course, but you don't need that many to make a difference. A sauce of sautéed wild and cultivated mushrooms and cream – to eat with steak, guinea fowl or pasta – is one of the things I crave when the days turn misty. Field mushrooms, with their lovely dark gills, can deliver that beefy flavour. And there is nothing wrong with dried wild mushrooms, especially in a sauce or braise, and you get to use the soaking liquid (which smells like a bowl of Bovril).

The most important thing about cooking mushrooms I learnt from Antonio. First, cook them in hot oil – this gives them a good colour – then turn down the heat and add butter for flavour. Second, they throw out a lot of water, so if you are adding them to an omelette or tart turn up the heat to drive the moisture off. Last, simple is best. A pan of porcini sautéed with garlic and parsley could send Antonio into raptures – a passion not misplaced.

Mushroom and
Marsala Tart

This is a real treat, especially if you have wild mushrooms. You do need dry marsala, which can be hard to find (some people will tell you that only sweet marsala exists – they're talking rubbish. A good Italian deli is the place to look). If you have no luck, brandy or dry sherry will do.

For the pastry:

250g plain flour

125g butter

¼ tsp salt

1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp very cold water

For the filling:

25g dried mushrooms

25g unsalted butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

450g mushrooms (a mixture of wild and cultivated, if possible), chopped

4 tbsp dry marsala

Good grating of fresh nutmeg

2 large eggs plus 2 yolks

350ml (12oz) double cream

To make the pastry put the flour, butter and salt into a food processor fitted with a plastic blade. Whizz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the yolk mixed with water and whizz again. The pastry should come together in a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Let the pastry come up to room temperature, then roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is big enough to line a 25cm (10in) tin, 3cm (1¼in) deep. Place the pastry in the tin and line with greaseproof paper.

Sprinkle on baking beans and bake blind in an oven preheated to 200°C/gas mark 6 for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans from the case and bake for a further five minutes. While the pastry is cooking pour enough boiling water on to the dried mushrooms just to cover them and leave to soak for 15 minutes.

Heat about a third of the butter and half the oil in a frying-pan and sauté the onion until soft and golden. Heat the rest of the fat in another frying-pan and sauté the fresh mushrooms briskly – you want to get a bit of colour on them.

Drain the dried mushrooms (keep the soaking liquor) and chop any large ones. Add these with the strained liquor to the mushrooms in the pan and cook over a high heat until all the moisture has evaporated.

Add the cooked onions and the marsala
and again cook until the liquid has
almost evaporated. Add the nutmeg and season.

Mix the eggs, yolks and cream together and season with salt, pepper and a little more nutmeg.

Spoon the mushroom and onion mixture into the tart case. Slowly pour the egg mixture on top.

Turn down the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5 and bake the tart for 30 minutes. The top should be golden and the centre just set.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes; it will finish cooking in its own heat. Serve with a green salad.

Roast Mushrooms and Jerusalem Artichokes with Thyme and Lemon

Roast mushrooms and Jerusalem artichokes look lovely together – a mixture of autumnal beige and brown – and the sweetness of artichokes is excellent with the savoury meatiness of field mushrooms. This is delicious with roast beef.

Serves four as a side dish

450g Jerusalem artichokes

2 onions, halved and cut into wedges

8 sprigs fresh thyme

juice of 1 lemon and zest of ½

7 tbsp olive oil

8 big fat field mushrooms, thickly sliced

Wash the artichokes. You don't need to peel them. Halve the larger ones lengthways. Put them in a roasting tin (big enough to take the mushrooms as well) and add the onions, thyme, lemon juice and 4 tbsp of the oil. Season well and toss everything around. Put in an oven preheated to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5 and cook for half an hour.

Take the tray out of the oven, scatter the mushrooms on top, season and add the rest of the oil and the lemon zest. It will look as if you have too many mushrooms, but they shrink. Put the tray back in the oven and roast until everything is tender and golden, a further 15 to 20 minutes or so.

Italian Bread and
Mushroom Salad with Pecorino

Button mushrooms, with their 'squeaky' texture and bland flavour, can be a bore. But strong flavours, crunchy bread and good extra virgin olive oil make them deliciously gutsy.

This is from Viana La Place's wonderful Verdura (€17.15, easons.ie).

Serves 4

4 slices country bread (I use sourdough)

1 clove garlic

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

225g button mushrooms

50g shiitake or

oyster mushrooms

juice of ½ lemon

50g pecorino romano, shaved

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Toast the bread on both sides. Rub each slice with garlic then tear roughly into pieces about the size of an unshelled walnut. Put in a shallow serving dish and drizzle with about half the oil.

Wipe the mushrooms. Trim the stalks then slice thinly. Put them in the bowl with the bread, season and add the lemon juice and more oil. Shave the cheese on top. Add the parsley and gently toss everything together. Taste for seasoning. Add a final drizzle of oil if needed. Serve immediately.