Boston Food Blog | Recipe Journal and Boston Restaurant Reviews

Italian

The Cure for Pasta Withdrawal: Stuffed Portabellas with Canadian Bacon and Feta Cheese

I admit, it is a little cliche, but the New Year has brought about a good excuse for me to become more motivated to eat well and exercise.  Truthfully, I am feeling quite positive about my new lifestyle, except for one thing:  I know I need to cut back on my over-consumption of pasta.  Pasta is my achilles heel.  I love it.  Not only is it the first thing that usually comes to mind when I am thinking about what to cook, it is usually what I crave whenever I am seeking any sort of culinary comfort.  For these reasons, I eat a lot of pasta.

As part of my resolution, I am seeking ways to get the same comfort and satisfaction I get from pasta without actually using any pasta, and this was the first dish that really hit the mark.   Preparing it was as easy as throwing together pasta dish, and eating it felt deliciously familiar and comfortable.  The other bonus to this dish is that the mushrooms could be stuffed with many different ingredients.

Allow one large portabello for each person you are feeding.  I served the dish with a light salad, and I was stuffed – no pun intended.

Ingredients:

• 4 large portabella mushrooms, with stems, brushed clean
• 5 pieces of Canadian bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch peices
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 small red or greed chili, finely diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 can or jar of tomato sauce
• Salt
• Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Brush the mushrooms clean with a most towel.  Remove the stem, chop into 1/4 inch dice and reserve.  In a shallow baking dish, season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and sprinkle with a tablespoon of olive oil each.  With the underside of the mushroom cap facing up, place in the oven to begin roasting.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add two tablespoons of olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add the Canadian bacon.  Once the Canadian bacon is beginning to brown, add the onion, peppers, and garlic and salt to taste.  Cook until the vegtables begin to soften.  Add the mushroom stems.  Continue to saute until the vegtables are soft, about 7 mimutes. Turn off the heat and add the breadcrums and the feta cheese.  Toss throughly until mixture is combined.

Remove the mushroom caps from the oven.  Carefully remove the caps from the dish and pour in the tomato sauce.  Return the mushroom caps so that Top the caps with the stuffing mixture.  Cover with mozarella cheese and return to the oven.  Bake the mushrooms at 375 for twenty minutes.  Turn the heat up to 475 for the last few minutes just to brown the cheese.

Serve one stuffed mushroom to each person and cover with the tomato sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.  Serve immediately.

© 2009 Boston Food and Recipes Blog.