Shrimp Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms
So say one night, you’re home alone with your Mr. Wonderful. The kids are gone (who don’t eat mushrooms) and he is hankering for a manly bratwurst on the grill, slathered in spicy mustard, sprinkled with chopped onions, and sandwiched in a crusty, rustic bun. Stuffed Mushrooms have not really
Say you want to even-out the food playing field, and make something that a woman would love. Decadent, savory, juicy and a hint of fancy….something special…
Stuffed portabellos.
That fits the bill.
While Mr. Wonderful was grilling up those bratwurts, I was inside making the filling for these glorious babies.
Crowned King of the spore-bearing fungus family (are you hungry yet?), most people may not know that the Portabello (also spelled Portobello and Portabella), is actually the grown-up version of the Cremini mushroom. Both are delicious and a tad more yummy than their button mushroom counterparts.
I made enough in this recipe for just two servings. Multiply servings as you like!
To begin, you want to scrape out those black, gill-looking-things on the underside of your mushrooms. You don’t have to remove the gills, they are a-okay for you, but we need to fill the caps with something yummy. You also want to grab and pull the stem out with your hands, or pop it out with a spoon.
You can save both of these for mixing in with your stuffing. I didn’t tonight, for some reason, and I regretted it. I’ve been working some long hours this week and had brain lapse.
Brain lapse is not good when you waste mushroom “ahhh” factor.
Get a medium saute pan, and put it over medium heat. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the pan.
Chop up one-half of a medium onion, very finely.
You don’t want a big chunk of onion in your mouth when you bite into these. You want everything to be soft and silky and to melt-in-your-mouth. Keep your onion sauteeing for about 3-4 minutes and let it soften-up.
Toss these into your pan and then chiffonade up some basil. Roll the leaves into a cigar shape and slice across them to form ribbons.
At this point, if you want to add your mushroom innards, chop them up little bitty and add them into the pan. I seriously regret not doing this. It really intensifies the flavor of your filling.
Chop up 2-3 cloves of garlic, or squeeze them in your garlic press right into the pan. Stir it up for a minute or two. Don’t let it burn! Burnt garlic is bitter!
Chop up about 1/2 cup of shrimp. I had some salad shrimp lying around in the freezer so I just gave that a quick chop.
Toss it into the pan. Since it was already cooked, it only needed about one minute. If you use uncooked, let it turn pink.
Now you want to add about 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs.
Give everything a good stir.
Add 1/2 cup of mayonnaise. Stir it into the mix.
Hey! I never said this was a figure friendly recipe. I suppose you could use light mayo if you like.
Mix until the breadcrumb mixture mixes really well into the mayo.
Also add 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.
Add a pinch of salt and pepper. I used about 1/4 teaspoon of salt and just a sprinkle of pepper.
Stir all of this up until it’s well-mixed.
Before you fill your mushrooms, you want to brush the outside of them with olive oil. This will keep them from sticking to your grill.
Begin to spoon your filling into your mushrooms. Kind of smash it around to evenly fill the caps.
Your mushrooms are ready for baking or grilling.
You can put them in the oven and roast them. The oven would probably take around 20-30 minutes on 350 degrees.
But they’re really delicious on your outdoor grill. I sent the plate out to the grill with Mr. Wonderful. He was already working on his bratwursts outside.
After about 5 minutes, this is what they looked like.
Oh glory be. Remember that old song? AN.. TI.. CI.. PAAAAA- TION!!?
Close the lid of the grill and it will work like an oven to circulate the heat and toast up the top of the filling.
The longer portabellos cook, the meatier and firmer and yummy they become. After about 10-12 minutes, they should be perfect, dark brown, glossy and yummy.
You will need a steak knife to slice thru them. Take one big bite and sigh in awe.
The brats were good..but for me…I coulda had an entire platter of these for my dinner. They’re that good.
- 2 large portabello mushrooms, stem popped out, and gills scraped out. Reserve for filling.
- 2 T. Olive oil plus some for brushing
- ½ medium onion, chopped fine
- 4-6 leaves fresh basil, chiffonaded
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped or squeezed
- ½ cup chopped shrimp
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- ¼ t. salt
- pinch of pepper
- Clean and scrape out your mushrooms. Reserve filling and chop.
- Brush bottoms and side of each mushroom with olive oil.
- In a saucepan, pour 2 T. olive oil into pan and turn on medium heat.
- Put in chopped onion and cook, stirring about 3 minutes.
- Add basil and garlic.
- Cook about 1 minute.
- Add shrimp for about 1 minute.
- Add breadcrumbs. Mix well. Remove from heat.
- Add mayonnaise and incorporate by stirring and mashing.
- Add cheese and mix well.
- Spoon into mushroom caps.
- Grill with lid close 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!
1 Comments
Terra
May 15, 2012 at 10:39 pm