February 8, 2009

So is it portobello, or is it portabella?  I've always wondered that.  Anyway.  You say potaytoe, I say potahto.  It occurs to me that this Sunday Supper is a lot like my Spinach Quiche with Tomato Sauce, so the spinach with cheese and tomato must be a flavor combination that I subconsciously gravitate toward. Or maybe my body is just needing more iron, calcium and lycopene right now.  Whatever it is, these portobello mushrooms worked really well with the other flavors.

I got a big package of 4 mushroom caps from Sam's Club the other day, and they were by far the biggest ones I've ever seen.  They definitely deserved a special treatment of some kind, and since I had frozen spinach, tomato sauce ingredients, and more of the Cabot 50% Light All Natural Cheddar Cheese on hand, this is the filling I came up with on the fly. I didn't measure, and you don't have to either. Just eyeball the amounts of each component until it looks good to you. You're the one eating it, so please yourself!  By the way, if you have a grill, these would be incredible started on it instead of in the oven!

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Portobello

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Portobello with Tomato Sauce

4 large portobello mushroom caps
Olive oil
Salt and Shallot Pepper to taste
Frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Cabot 50% Light Cheddar Cheese, grated
Tomato/marinara sauce – any kind, homemade or bottled

Clean the mushroom caps with a damp paper towel. Leaving the gills is fine in this recipe so don't worry about removing them. Rub or brush each cap with olive oil on all sides. Salt and pepper to taste. Place in a baking dish (13 x 9 worked for my 4 giant caps) and bake at 350 degrees for around 30 minutes or until tender, turning a couple of times.

When mushrooms are done, drain excess liquid if desired. Smear a little tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish, and place the mushrooms on the bed of sauce. Add a nice handful of spinach to each cap, then top with cheese. Spoon tomato sauce over each mushroom. Bake until hot and bubbly, around 20 minutes.

Add a nice green salad, and you have a great simple, healthful dinner for 4, or a Sunday Supper and 3 lunches for BigSis!

~BigSis