Caprese stuffed Portobello mushroom caps are a delicious twist on your favorite summer Caprese salad – and a great way to use up those late summer tomatoes.
Well hey there friends! It’ been a hot minute since I’ve posted here, and I’m so sorry! I’ve been a little bit crazy with work since last spring and I’m finally coming up for some air.
I decided earlier this year that I want to grow the health and nutrition writing side of my business so I dove head-first into building out a new website for myself and did some serious marketing.
It worked! I scored a bunch of wonderful new clients, but I’ve been so busy I literally haven’t had time to cook! Or write anything for myself 🙁
I did whip up this recipe for a yummy Caprese stuffed Portobello mushroom caps though, and I decided it was too good to not share with you.
Tomato season is long over here in Arizona – it’s way too hot and dry for them by this time of the year. Hopefully, your garden is bursting with them. When I lived in Boston, I always had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with, in late August.
If you’re feeling like you can’t eat them fast enough, and you’re not into canning tomatoes, my go-to solution has always been to roast them.
I love them roasted with lots of olive oil, garlic, and basil. They’re so good for spooning over pasta or stuffing into Portobello mushrooms like I did here. Or, sometimes I lay them on a sheet pan with quartered up onions, a few jalapeno peppers, and a bunch of garlic cloves to make the BEST ever sheet pan roasted salsa.
Once you’ve got your tomatoes all roasted up, keep them in the freezer. You’ll think of a million ways to use them all winter long. Hello, roasted tomato soup!
I used grape tomatoes for this recipe but cherry tomatoes are great too. If you only have large size tomatoes in your garden, just cut them into bite-sized pieces before you pan-roast them. If they’re garden-fresh, they’ll taste great no matter what size they are!
Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Caps
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves sliced into thin pieces, divided
- 4 Portobello mushrooms stems removed
- 8 pieces mini mozzarella balls (ciliegine) each piece sliced in half
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- additional olive oil to drizzle
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a saute pan. Add the tomatoes (make sure they're not wet or the oil will splatter!), salt, and a generous pinch of fresh ground pepper.
- Saute the tomatoes for about 5 minutes, until they turn brown in spots and start to blister. Pierce a few of them with a sharp knife so they give off some juice. Cover the pan and let the tomatoes cook for about 10 more minutes.
- When the tomatoes start to soften, add the garlic and about half of the sliced basil, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and let the tomatoes cook for another 5 minutes or until they're soft and most have popped open.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a baking dish or pan with oil and place the mushroom caps with the gill side facing up.
- Divide the tomato mixture among the 4 mushroom caps. If there are extra tomatoes, spoon them around the mushrooms.
- Place 4 pieces of mozzarella cheese on top of or around the tomatoes in the mushroom caps.
- Sprinkle the mushrooms with the Parmesan cheese and drizzle with additional olive oil if desired.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until the mushrooms are softened and the cheese is melted. If desired, move the pan to the broiler for about 30 seconds at the end to brown the cheese a bit.
- Sprinkle with the remaining fresh basil and serve.
Nutrition
Do you grow tomatoes in the summer? What do you do with the extras?
Eat well!
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