Portabella or portobello? Who knows, supposedly it’s all the same… so call it what you like- either way, they’re delicious stuffed! As you likely know by now if you’ve read any of my other posts, I love stuffed foods. So when I saw these scrumptious little stuffing portobellos in my fridge, I knew just what to do! Did you know… portobellos, criminis, and white “normal” mushrooms are actually all the same variety of mushroom, but portobellos are when the little white mushies have fully matured, getting both bigger and darker in color! ‘Tis true, so I’ve read anyway. Criminis are the in between stage, so a stuffing portobello is just a larger crimini, perfect for stuffing- not quite the giant the mushies will later become. They’re perfect for this type of thing… hence the name 🙂 If you don’t have them (Trader Joe’s sells them in packs of six in the produce section), use either large white or crimini mushrooms OR little portobellos- an in between mushroom, shall we say…
Typically I stuff my mushrooms with goat cheese, but I happened to have a tub of ricotta in my fridge, and I’m a big fan of using what I have already around, so ricotta-stuffed it was! I also added some fresh Parmesan, basil, thyme, oregano, and of course the star… roasted garlic!!
The roasted garlic adds a nice unique, yet subtle touch. I personally love garlic- not sure if it’s my Mediterranean blood or just me, but I pretty much put it in everything. So it seemed a natural fit when I was combining herbs and cheese to make a mushroom stuffing. Roasting it just takes its to the next level- a softer, sweeter, more scrumptious level!
These make a perfect easy hors d’oeuvre, quick bite, or dinner side 🙂
INGREDIENTS
6 stuffing portobellos
1/2 large head of garlic
5 tbsp minced yellow onion
3 tbsp ricotta cheese
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, plus a little more for topping
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp fresh oregano
2 tbsp fresh basil
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
* extra olive oil, salt, & pepper for roasting garlic
* fresh herbs, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Begin by roasting garlic…
Usually, when I roast garlic I take the entire head and cut off the
very end tips so that the cloves slip out easily…
this time, I’m only using half of a head, so I did it a little differently
Cut the entire head in half (a sharp knife works best for this), with peel/skin on
he place over a small sheet of foil
Drizzle open face with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
Wrap tightly in foil- into a little ball- and then roast in oven for about 30 minutes
(If you have a toaster oven, you can crank it to the highest heat-
usually 450- and bake for about 20 minutes)
When done, take out foil, open carefully- WILL BE VERY HOT- and let cool
Meanwhile, prep mushrooms..
Clean mushrooms well
Using your fingers, remove each stem… sometimes there will still be a little left in the mushroom cap,
and since you’re stuffing these, you want as much out as possible
I use a spoon to remove any remaining pieces
Keep stems! You will use them in the stuffing…
So now you’ve got these nice, clean, empty mushroom shells… place on a baking pan
(I use the pan that goes with my toaster oven since it’s the
perfect size and cover it in foil- any pan will work though)
Now let’s start the stuffing…
Quarter an onion
Finely dice until you have about 5 tbsp
Dice mushroom stems…
You should have about equal parts of both mushroom and onion
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat… toss diced mushroom stems,
onion, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper in pan and stir
Saute for about 10 minutes, until onions are fragrant and lightly golden
