Summer calls for the fresh, bold flavors of sweet basil, home-grown tomatoes, and tangy balsamic vinegar. To bring these flavors together, I created a beautiful dish that would be a perfect side or appetizer for a summer dinner party — Pesto-stuffed Portobellos! You may look at this recipe and think it’s complicated because you have to make the pesto, roast the portobellos, stuff them, then broil them and garnish them, but I assure you that each step is SUPER easy and totally worth it!
If you don’t like mushrooms, you can still make this recipe! Just try a toast version . . . or a potato version . . . cauliflower? You can get creative! The best part of this recipe is my oil-free pesto! Most pesto recipes contain a lot of olive oil, which adds a lot of fat and very few nutrients. So instead of pouring oil into the food processor, I threw in a ripe avocado with the rest of my pesto ingredients. Luke (age 2) helped, and he couldn’t stop eating the pesto out of the bowl! You will likely have a little pesto left over after making your pesto-stuffed portobellos, so feel free to toss it into pasta, add it to a veggie sandwich, or use it as a dip for crudités!
The first step is to clean and remove the stems from your mushroom caps. I used to try to scrape out the dark brown gills, but quickly realized that was unnecessary (and messy!). Lightly spray the bottom of your baking dish with olive oil, place the caps supine in the dish, and do a quick drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Roast in the oven at 375°F about 13 minutes, depending the size of your portobellos. They should be slightly shrunken and wrinkled on the edges.
While the mushrooms are roasting, make your pesto! Simply blitz all of the pesto ingredients in a food processor until you have a bright green, creamy sauce. Try to keep yourself from eating it all with a spoon!
Finally, pull the portobellos out of the oven and spread 1-2 Tablespoons of the pesto into each cap. Generously sprinkle the top of the pesto with panko crumbs (I used GF panko), then decorate the tops of each with cherry tomato halves, cut-sides down. Return the baking dish to the oven and broil about 3 minutes or until the tomatoes start to blister. Finish the dish off with a quick drizzle of balsamic glaze/reduction and a sprinkle of fresh basil leaves.
Et voilà!
Now you have pesto-stuffed portobellos, a show-stopping side dish or entree that is packed with fresh summer flavors and is super nutritious. You also have a fantastic oil-free pesto recipe that you can use in other recipes that call for basil pesto! You’re welcome.
- 5-6 portobello "sliders" or 3 large portobello caps
- 2-3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
- Pesto:
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 1 ripe avocado, peel and pit removed
- ¼ cup raw walnuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt & pepper to taste
- ------------------------------
- ¼-1/3 cup panko crumbs (I used GF)
- 10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- *Balsamic glaze/reduction for drizzling
- Small fresh basil leaves for garnish
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray a baking dish with olive oil to prevent sticking. Clean portobello caps and trim or remove stems if necessary. Arrange them stem-side up in the dish and drizzle them with a little balsamic vinegar. Roast them in the oven roughly 13 mins, longer if you're using large mushrooms.
- While the mushrooms roast, add all pesto ingredients to a food processor and blitz until creamy. Taste and add more salt/pepper/lemon if necessary.
- When the mushrooms have shrunken a little and are wrinkled around the edges, remove them from the oven and spread 1-2 Tbs. pesto in each cap. Sprinkle generously with panko crumbs, then decorate the top of each with tomato halves, pushing each into the pesto slightly.
- Switch the oven to broil, then return baking dish to the oven roughly 3 mins, or until tomatoes begin to blister and panko crumbs turn golden. You'll want to watch the oven carefully so you don't burn your panko crumbs -- it happens fast!
- Before serving, do a quick drizzle of balsamic glaze and garnish with fresh basil leaves.
These stuffed portobellos are best the day you make them, preferably right out of the oven! The pesto is still good for a couple of days though.
Aren’t they pretty!?
These pesto-stuffed portobellos would be a lovely appetizer for a dinner party! Or, you know, at my future plant-based restaurant 🙂
Try them, I promise you’ll love them!
♥ ♥ ♥
If you love portobello mushrooms, also try my Vegetable Napoleon Over Polenta with Fire-roasted Harissa!
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