Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

When you order stuffed mushrooms at a restaurant, they’re typically small button caps filled with a bread, cheese and meat paste-type mixture. They often rest in pools of cheesy grease, and while this isn’t always the case – this is an excellent recipe from Taste of Home, in fact – the possibility often deters me from trying them when dining out.

Lucky for stuffed mushroom lovers, these delicious guys aren’t required to be an appetizer. I enjoy stuffing large Portobello caps with various ingredients and serving them as the main dish. Steam your favorite vegetable and you have a quick, healthy and flavorful meal.

Sausage and spinach stuffed Portobello mushrooms

2 large Portobello caps

½ lb. lean, spicy turkey sausage

½ - 1 Tbsp. minced garlic

½ small red onion, diced

½ small red bell pepper, chopped

2 – 3 c. fresh spinach, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

½ - 1 cup grated Asiago cheese

Clean out 2 Portobello caps, and set them aside. If the margin or gills are particularly firm, place them convex side up on your oven rack at 350° for 5 minutes – this will help soften them up. I use a spoon to simply scrape away until I have a decent bowl in which to pack my filling.

For the filling, brown your sausage with the onion, pepper and garlic until browned. Drain if excess liquid is present. Lower the heat, and add your spinach; mix until just wilted. Fill your mushroom caps, each with half of the warm filling. Top with Asiago cheese.

Place on a slightly oiled pan, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 350°, or until the cheese is melted.

Lemon steamed asparagus

I served these mushrooms with steamed asparagus. Remove the tough portion of the stems before sprinkling them with lemon juice, salt, pepper and a bit of water. You can put these in a microwave-safe container and microwave them for about 5 minutes, or you can use your steamer of choice.