Sausage & Lima Bean Stuffed Portabello Mushroom

Portobello mushrooms were just 1.99 per pound at the grocery store last week, so I picked up a couple, knowing how much I love them stuffed. Then I went and used the spinach I planned to stuff them with for something else and had this crazy idea I would try lima beans. I have some frozen lima beans from Harvest Share and thought why not? After all, lima beans are not super moist, so they might be great stuffing.

I preheated the oven to 350° F while I mixed the following in a bowl.

• 1 cup of lima beans (thawed in microwave for 1 minute)
• 4 links of half-cooked breakfast sausage, peeled and cut (I heated in microwave for 1 minute and drained off the fat, peeled off the skin and cut into small pieces.)
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• stems from 2 large portobello mushrooms, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg

Mix all this together and stuff into the cleaned caps of two large portobello mushrooms. I had some left over, I will use it with scrambled eggs.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

You can shred some parmesan cheese on top if you like, but it’s not needed. Lima beans are a great choice for stuffing as they don’t lose their shape or substance when cooked, so the stuffing does not become overly mushy. All the ingredients in the stuffing were chosen to remain their constituent selves while holding together. They worked. The stuffing was completely cooked, but not the least bit soggy or mushy…thanks to draining off the sausage grease and using ingredients with low water content. Paprika seems to be made for mushrooms and works well, too with lima beans and sausage. This is a very satisfying meal that takes care of all your umami longings while remaining relatively light and fresh. This makes two stuffed mushrooms which would serve two if accompanied by salad or soup, or one meal on their own.

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Broccoli Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I was getting ready to stuff my portobellos with another ground beef and onions mixture when I caught this spear of broccoli out of the corner of my eye and wondered whether I could stuff the mushrooms with broccoli without making a big mess. I figured the trick would be to cut all the pieces very small so they didn’t overwhelm or break the mushroom caps.

I turned the oven to 400° and let it heat.

First I cleaned two portobello mushrooms, breaking off the stem and scraping the gills. I chopped the unused stems and gills and reserved them in a bowl for another dish. I rubbed a bit of olive oil over the mushrooms and set them in a baking dish cap side down and set them aside while I prepared the stuffing.

I cut two florets of broccoli off my stem and cut them into small pieces, using just the very top pieces. I put the chopped broccoli in a small bowl and heated in the microwave for 30 seconds on medium to precook them just a bit. I drained off the very tiny bit of liquid. This gave me 1/2 cup of chopped broccoli. I then added 1 TBSP of chopped yellow onion and 2 TBSP of chopped red peppers and 2 oz of pepper jack cheese – all cut into 1/4 inch size pieces. I finely chopped 1 TSP of fresh thyme. I mixed everything together and added some salt and pepper. I then spooned the stuffing into the mushroom tops, pressing lightly to pack it all on top.

I put the mushrooms in the oven and let them bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese was melty and delicious.

The flavors are lovely. There’s a bit of heat from the pepper jack cheese and people who prefer a milder flavor could use Monterey Jack. I think this would be a fun Christmas side dish, with its bright red and green.

Portobello Hash

I am too much my mother’s daughter to waste food, so when making stuffed mushrooms, I refuse to follow the recipe and discard the gills and stem after cleaning my mushrooms. Instead I chop them up and put them in a mesh strainer to rinse really well to make sure I remove any of the dirt that can get trapped in the gills. The reason people discard the gills is that they darken and discolor the foods that are cooked with them. However, a simple potato hash is not going to be harmed by a bit of discoloration from the gills.

Wash one potato and shred into fine strips, like hash browns. I use a mandoline, but you can also use a vegetable shredder. In a skillet, heat 2 TBSP of olive oil and add 2 TBSP of diced yellow onion. Crush and mince one garlic glove and add that. Toss in the chopped mushroom stems and gills from two portobello mushrooms and the shredded potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Continue to heat, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are cooked. I like to let the potatoes crisp a bit, but that’s a personal taste preference. Many people think hash should not be crispy.

This has a lovely earthy flavor from the mushrooms augmented by the smokiness of the paprika. It’s not a beautiful dish, but it’s delicious and uses the often-wasted bits of portobellos. This makes one large serving or two regular servings.

Portobellos Stuffed with Lamb Sausage and Zucchini

So there’s a bit of a cheat in this recipe. The butcher at New Seasons had Gyros seasoned lamb sausage on sale. It comes with onions, garlic and spices already in the sausage – all ready to cook. It was on sale for 5.99/pound.

I turned the oven on to 400 Fahrenheit.

I used a single 1/4 pound patty for this recipe. I diced up 1/2 of a small zucchini and mixed it together with the lamb sausage.

I cleaned two portobello tops, removing the gills and the stem which I reserved for an omelet tomorrow. I rubbed a bit of olive oil on the top, and spread the zucchini/sausage mix into the caps. I put them in a pan and put them in the preheated oven and let cook about 20 minutes.

They were not quite done, but it was time to put a bit of provolone on top. I sliced about 1/2 ounce of provolone and spread the very thin slices across the top and let cook until the cheese browned and served with a Charred Tomato Salad.

It was delicious, hearty and satsifying with that wonderful earthiness of mushroom and the aromatic flavor of seasoned lamb.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Portobello mushrooms were on sale at New Seasons this week – priced the same as Criminis. Why they aren’t always the same price is a mystery since they are the same mushroom just a few days older. Nonetheless, I took advantage of the sale price and bought two Portobellos.

But let’s take care of the salad first since I made it in the morning so it could soak up the vinegar and dill flavor all day. Using the mandoline, I sliced 1/2 of a red onion, 1 Roma tomato and 1/2 of a large cucumber into thin slices and layered in a plastic storage container. I tossed in 1 tsp of dried dill weed, some salt and pepper and 1 TBSP of olive oil and 1.5 TBSP of vinegar. I put the lid on and shook it all up and set in the fridge to marinate all day. This makes 4 servings of the salad.

I heated the oven to 400° F.

To prep, I minced two cloves of garlic and sliced 1/2 of a sweet onion in thin slices on the mandoline.

With the mushrooms, first I washed them and scrubbed with a mushroom brush. I then cut off the stems. I diced the stems up and put them in a container to use for an omelet tomorrow morning. Using a spoon I scraped out the gills (they are edible but use the space I need for the stuffing). I rubbed a couple drops of olive oil on the top of the caps and put them top down in a baking pan.

In a bowl I put 6 oz of ground turkey, 1 tsp of ground sage, 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg, 1 TBSP dried parsleyand1/4 tsp of dry mustard and mixed them together thoroughly. I then spread half on the bottom of each mushroom cap.

I put them in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes.

I then put 1 TBSP of olive oil in a saute pan and sauteed the onions and garlic until the onions turned golden brown. I added 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce and the juice of 1 lemon and let cook for an additional 2 minutes.

I removed the mushrooms from the oven and layered the onions on top. I then shredded about 1 oz of Parmesan on each mushroom and put back in the oven for about 10 minutes.  Right at the end, I switched the oven to broil just until the cheese browned nicely.

The stuffed mushrooms had that hearty umame flavor that is so satisfying and the bit of tang from the Worcestershire and lemon was a perfect balance to the earthiness of the mushrooms. The light salad was a good complement to a hearty entree. If served with rice or pasta, I would serve one per person, but with just salad, two makes a meal.