stuffed portobellos Archives - Proud Italian Cook

Caprese Style Portobellos

I love the large portobello mushroom caps because basically you can stuff them with almost anything you want resulting in a beautiful meal that you created in no time. You don’t need a bunch of ingredients to make them and you feel totally satisfied after you’ve eaten them.
We often eat these as a main course during the week along with a nice big salad but if you want to make them as a delicious side dish next to grilled chops or a steak, I’m here to tell you they go perfectly together!

What’s not to like? All the flavors of a caprese salad plopped into a large portobello cap! It’s good, it’s really good.

One of the reasons this tastes so good is that you cut and prepare your cherry tomatoes ahead of time letting them sit in a bowl for a few minutes with your olive oil, fresh basil, salt and pepper, letting all the flavors meld together. I also like to scrape out the gills, it gives you more room for all the toppings, and of course good tomatoes are the key!

And lastly, and I wouldn’t say this unless I meant it, but if you really want to take the whole flavor experience over the top, finish it off some balsamic glaze!

Caprese Style Portobellos

Ingredients

large portobello mushroom caps, gills removed
cherry tomatoes, halved
shredded or fresh mozzarella ( although I've tried both I prefer the dryer shredded version for this because of the moisture factor seeping out)
fresh basil
olive oil

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.
Brush the caps and rims with olive oil on each mushroom.
Slice cherry or grape tomatoes in half, place in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, add chopped basil, salt and pepper. Let it sit for a few minutes to let the flavors meld.
Place your cheese on the bottom of the mushroom cap, spoon on the tomato basil mixture and bake until cheese melts and mushrooms are cooked but not overcooked.

Cedar Planked Grilled Portobellos Stuffed with Summer Veggies

I normally use grilling planks for salmon or scallops but this time I thought I would try using vegetables, in particular big “meaty” portobellos!

Make sure you buy natural untreated wood that is free of chemicals, strictly sold for cooking, You wouldn’t want to use just any old type of wood from a hardware store, it could be very toxic!

There are various cooking woods on the market, some of my favorites as well as the cedar are maple, cherry, alder, apple and mesquite just to name a few.

Just make sure you soak them submerged and weighted down in water for at least 2 hours before placing them on your grill, otherwise they will just burn up and you don’t want that.

While your wood is soaking you can be grilling up your veggies. I used yellow squash, zucchini, corn, and red, yellow and orange peppers. They were tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper then placed on the grill.

For the mushrooms, the gills and stems were removed, this will give you a nice flat surface for stuffing.

Brush your mushrooms on the bottom with olive oil and only place them on the grill for 2 to 3 minutes just to get grill marks, caps up. Remove and let them cool completely. If moisture appears just pat with a paper towel.
Remember, only grill them for a couple of minutes, they will continue to cook on the plank.

I filled my caps with shredded asiago cheese but you could use just about any cheese you want. Now it’s time to layer your veggies making sure you can see all the different colors. Sprinkle a tiny bit of cheese on top then stick them on the plank!

Try to keep your grill temperature around 350, as their cooking you’ll hear the wood cracking a bit and the sweet smell of the cedar will fill the air.

The cheese will melt underneath and the veggies will become a little more golden, mine took a good 15 minutes.