Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

As a child, I didn’t like mushrooms – I found them too earthy. It wasn’t until I grew oyster mushrooms as part of a science fair project, that I came to appreciate their taste and texture. When I was a vegetarian, mushrooms (and eggplant) were staple items since most people didn’t know what else to feed me. Since Portobello mushrooms are hearty and meat-like, I spent many dinners eating grilled Portobellos, Portobello burgers and Portobello casserole.

As it turns out, three of the most common mushrooms sold in Western supermarkets are actually different varieties of the same mushroom (scientific name Agaricus bisporus). The button mushroom is a young, unopened form of the Crimini mushroom. If a Crimini is left to grow, in 2 or 3 days it will quadruple in size and become what we call a Portobello or Portobella. While the origin of the name ‘Portobello’ is not known, the mushroom is likely named after the road in London famous for selling antiques.

Like criminis and Portobellos, button mushrooms were traditionally brown in color. A chance white mutant discovered on a Pennsylvania mushroom farm became very popular with consumers, which is the origin of the ubiquitous white button mushroom.

There is a centuries-old tradition of collecting wild mushrooms for human consumption. Unfortunately, there are a number of poisonous varieties and no clear way to distinguish edible from inedible. Mushroom cultivation began in France when Olivier de Serres, a sixteenth century soil scientist, found that wild mushroom mycelium could be transplanted and cultivated. Due to pathogens, however, widespread cultivation did not occur until the creation of a sterile pure culture in 1893 by the Pasteur Institute.

This recipe is from my multi-talented friend Sarah.

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 portobello mushroom caps
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces fresh spinach leaves
1 cup ricotta cheese or 7 ounces low-fat cream cheese
1/8 cup fresh parmesan, grated
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 chilli powder (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 egg, beaten (omit if using cream cheese)
8 tablespoons bread crumbs (can use non-gluten bread crumbs), seasoned with salt and pepper
1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Using a paring knife, remove stems from all mushroom caps. Wipe down mushrooms with a wet cloth to remove all dirt. Do not wash or rinse mushrooms. Set aside.
3. In a medium skillet, heat oil and sauté garlic until fragrant. Add spinach and cook until shrunk down. Remove from heat.
4. In a small bowl, mix ricotta cheese or cream cheese and parmesan. Season to taste with garlic salt, dried basil, chilli powder, black pepper and salt. Mix well.
5. If using ricotta, mix in egg.
6. Add spinach to cheese mixture. Mound mixture into mushroom cap. Top with 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs per mushroom, followed by mozzarella cheese.
7. Bake in a cake tin or roasting pan for 15-20 minutes until the mozzarella has turned golden brown.
8. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.