Savory Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
How many people does this recipe feed? Well, the recipe makes 4-6 heaping portobello mushrooms. Ostensibly, there would be one mushroom per person. Steve and I, however, ate them all in one sitting. Perhaps we’d be more decorous at the Thanksgiving table. Perhaps not.
These mushrooms are a knock-out holiday entree. And, if the family is determined to “help” you in the kitchen, this recipe is a fun one. Children and great-grandparents alike will get a kick out of “painting” the mushrooms with pastry brushes and then piling on the stuffing.
Stuffed and ready for the oven.
Ingredients (makes 4-6 stuffed mushrooms)
2 cups LAFF protein crumbles 4-6 portobello mushrooms ½ cup julienne cut sundried tomatoes packed in oil ¼ cup packed, chopped frozen spinach (thawed) 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 teaspoon dried thyme ½ teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon sea salt ⅛ teaspoon (a pinch) red pepper flakes Sea salt and black pepper Fresh parsley for garnishing
Method
Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Gently wash and pat dry the mushrooms. Place the mushrooms stem-side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pull out the stems; dice them; toss them in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
In a juice glass or small bowl, whisk together the 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 teaspoon of vinegar. This is where the fun-for-all-ages-with-thoroughly-washed-hands comes in: Use a pastry brush, to glaze (“paint”) the mushrooms with the oil-vinegar mixture. Brush the mixture over the caps and insides of the mushrooms. Place the “painted” mushrooms stem-side up on the baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.
Baked and ready for the holiday buffet…but easy enough to make on a busy weeknight.
The fun continues: To the mixing bowl with the diced mushroom stems, add 1 teaspoon each of sage, rosemary, and thyme, plus ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, and ⅛ (a pinch) of red pepper flakes. Add ½ cup of sundried tomatoes (including the oil) and ¼ cup chopped, thawed spinach. Stir it together. Use very clean fingers to break up any spinach chunks. If the stuffing seems dry, drizzle it with oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes.
Spoon a generous pile of the stuffing into each mushroom. Mound it up! Sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. (Mine usually take 22 minutes.)
One more fun step before the most fun step of eating: Garnish the mushrooms with fresh parsley. Garnishing can be a mini-art project or, if you prefer, a quick flick of the fingers.
Notes
Experiment with flavored oils and specialty vinegars in the portobello glaze (the “paint”).
If you use sundried tomatoes packed in seasoned oil, adjust the seasonings listed above.
Do other dishes you’re simultaneously making require a cooler or hotter oven? These stuffed mushrooms will work from temperatures of 350 to 415…adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Want to serve this dish as an appetizer? Use baby portobello mushrooms.
Hesitant about the frozen spinach? Well, it turns out that frozen spinach is one of the secret weapon ingredients that chefs and food experts keep in their home kitchens…at least according to the Food People by Bon Appetite podcast.