Cooking with Mollie #18: Ricotta-filled Portobello Mushrooms

A vegetarian is always looking for hearty, filling entrees. One can only eat so many veggie burgers, so sooner or later, mushrooms come into play.

This recipe for Ricotta Stuffed Portobellos is, of course, from Mollie Katzen's great cookbook "The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without."

This dish does take a bit of cooking time, but the actual prep is quick and easy. First, you clean a big portobello mushroom cap, remove the stem and scrape out the gills with a spoon.



The denuded cap looks like this:


You start sauteeing the mushroom caps while you prep the filling. It takes about 10 minutes on each side, depending on how big your mushrooms are.

A really great ricotta is a beautiful thing. I get Angelo and Franco brand from Fresh & Easy and it is so soft and fluffy that it is like the breath of baby angels.


The filling is just ricotta, garlic, salt and pepper. I think it might be nice with some herbs thrown in, too, or maybe a dash of ground Aleppo peppers for spiciness.

The filling goes in the mushrooms, gets topped with a slice of ripe tomato (I used yellow, which is kind of pretty) and sprinkled with parmesan and thyme.



A few minutes under the broiler and voila - you have the richness of the portobello on the bottom and the delicate filling on top. A nice, satisfying entree - and much more impressive than a veggie burger.



Bon appetit!

Cooking With Mollie #13: Parmesan Nut Crusted Portobello Fritters

Most of the recipes I have made so far from Mollie Katzen's "The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without" have been vegan or practically vegan. This is the first one where I have had to bust out the eggs that have been languishing unloved in my fridge for a few weeks.

That isn't unusual. I use maybe 6 eggs every 6 months. I don't bake a lot and I like eggs better if someone else cooks them for me, usually into a tasty breakfast burrito.

This recipe is super simple, especially if you get some almond meal, which is, thanks to our wacky Paleo diet friends, increasingly easy to find. (Paleo friends, I jest. And admire your muscle tone).

Slice some big portobello mushroom caps in 1/2 inch slices. One big mushroom per person is more than enough.

For four mushrooms, mix 1 cup of almond meal and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just a guess, but you might want to throw in some garlic salt or fresh herbs, too. Mix it up and put it on a flat plate.

Beat some eggs - 3-4 eggs does it for 4 mushrooms. Put them in a flat dish like a pie plate.

Dip the flat edges of the mushrooms in the egg, then press into the nut mixture. Fry them for 5 minutes a side on a well-oiled skillet over medium heat until they are lovely and browned. Remove to a wire rack.


Good golly, Miss Mollie, they are tasty!

You can serve these hot, warm or room temp. I put a few drops of spicy vinegar on mine. Mollie suggests mayo and/or capers, but I bet a really garlicky aioli might be good, too.

Bon appetit!