Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Ricotta Stuffed Mushrooms




You think you are biting into a juicy piece of meat until you realize, this is just a mushroom. My meat-mushroom! We are on our second week of no meat(no fish, no chicken, no nothing!) It really is working out well, however, keeping fresh veggies on hand presents a few problems. I am trying my best to limit trips to the grocery during the week...keeping my green responsibilites to a minimum....anyway, I have several recipe books in the store now and Maxine Clark's came to mind when thinking about what to serve for dinner tonight. In her Easy Italian-simple recipes for every occassion, she has given us a number of delicious recipes using the best and freshest ingredients producing several outstanding dishes for busy people. Anyone busy these days?
6 lg. mushroom caps.
2 T.olive oil, extra for brushing.
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped.
3 T. chopped fresh parsely.
1/2 cup black olives, pitted and chopped.
3 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced.
A pinch of ground hot pepper.
8 oz. ricotta cheese.
salt and pepper.
3 T. freshly grated Parmeasan cheese.
Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and chop finely. Heat oil and add mushrooms, garlic, olives and parsley. Saute gently to soften garlic. Remove from heat and add tomatoes, red pepper, salt, pepper and gently stir in ricotta.
Brush the mushrooms with the olive oil and top with the ricotta filling in loose mounds. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake on tray in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately. Serves six.
I added a special treat for myself-threw in a few heads of garlic!

14 comments:

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I'm always amazed at how satisfying portobello mushrooms are, and how well they take to stuffings of all sorts. Must be all that umami.....

K and S said...

mmm drooling over that roasted garlic!

Simona Carini said...

I love mushrooms too, pretty much any way, any time. I have never had them stuffed with ricotta, though: it sounds like a very nice idea.

Peabody said...

I would make myself a meal out of those!

Culinary Cowgirl said...

Lovely...I am a big fan of mushrooms (sadly, my husband is not) :)

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

Fantastic recipe! Have you given up meat for good, or just for the short term? Either way, congratulations on a thoughtful approach to dining.

Betty Carlson said...

Am I ever busy! This recipe looks great - - ricotta again -- isn't it great in just about everything, both sweet and savory?

Unknown said...

I agree with Peabody - this is a meal, except that my husband would want meat. And yes, BC, ricotta is amazing and versatile.

Katie Zeller said...

It looks lovely - but mon mari would want the meat, too. And I can't get such big mushrooms.... so we'd have to have lots more LOL!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Wow Jan this is a lovely one to add to my growing list of how to make a mushroom into meat! We're really great fans of the big mushrooms and how can you go wrong with that roasted garlic. Wonderful dish.

Christine said...

Beautiful plate, Jann! The mushrooms and the roasted garlic I mean. I'm a huge fan of both. As you may have guessed from my blog's silence, I'm waaaay too busy these days. I get 6 weeks off this summer and can't wait.

Cynthia said...

I do love stuffed mushrooms would would eat it often but alas, we only get the imported variety and it is not always regular and then the price is usually ridiculous.

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Love roasted garlic and meaty mushrooms. We're trying not to have so much meat but all credit to you for cutting out fish and chicken too.

The Paris Apartment said...

I'm not an experienced cook but I am definitely going to try this!