Adventures in Food
Posts tagged mushrooms
Truffle cheese pizza
Nov 17th
Braces = pizza around our house. Our family’s favorite Italian deli happens to be right by the orthodontist’s office. So when she’s done having her braces tightened we swing by Alesci’s for their refrigerated pizza dough.
As I was digging through the refrigerator for topping ideas I stumbled on our prized chunk of Trader Joe’s truffle cheese. The cheese has the consistency of sharp provolone speckled with bits of truffle for an earthy, umami flavor. A little goes a long way.
Recipe
Serves: 4-6 people
Prep time: 20 minutes + 20 minutes baking
Ingredients
1 lb. prepared pizza dough
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 cup fresh spinach
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup truffle cheese (or sharp provolone)
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
olive oil
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Roll out the pizza dough to fill a 9″ round pan. Generously oil the pan and add the dough.
- In a heavy-bottomed pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. *I saute the veggies in my cast iron skillet and then bake the pizza in the same skillet. Yeah for easy clean up!
- Saute the mushroom and onions together in the heated oil until barely soft.
- Lightly brush the pizza dough with olive oil.
- Drain any extra liquid from the ricotta and then crumble it over the dough.
- Add the mushroom mixture, then fresh spinach. Sprinkle with mozzarella and truffle cheeses.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Allow the pizza to sit for 5 minutes before cutting.
Notes:
- Turn up the heat by adding a dash of cayenne pepper on your pizza before baking.
- I served the pizza drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It was perfection!
- My oldest daughter loved this veggie pizza but my younger kids opted for the standard pepperoni; their loss! (Admittedly, I didn’t push them too hard to try it because I really, really wanted leftovers. And this pizza is even better day two, cold.)
Getting the truffle pizza oven ready.
Portobello Philly cheesesteak sandwich
Jul 27th
After having a lackluster Philly cheesesteak during a recent layover in Philadelphia, I’ve been craving a lighter version of this famous sandwich. For a change this week, I used beefy portobello mushrooms instead of steak.
Mr. Squid also added some lightly sauteed strips of deli ham into the mix. The key for a really good Philly–besides ditching the Cheez Whiz–is to prepare each fixin’ individually. So saute the onions and peppers, remove from pan; saute the portobellos and then mix everything back together.
Recipe
Prep time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4-5
Ingredients:
4 portobello mushrooms, cut into thin strips
2 sweet peppers, cut into thin strips
1/2 white onion, cut into thin strips
4-6 ounces Fontina or Muenster Cheese in slices
4-5 hoagie buns
5 deli sliced ham slices, cut into thin strips (optional)
Seasonings
1 tablespoon oil, divided
2 tablespoons chicken broth
Directions:
- Bring 1/2 tablespoon oil (I like grape seed) to medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed saute pan. Cook the onions and peppers until just softened; remove from pan.
- Saute the portobello mushrooms in the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil until just softened.
- Add the pepper and onion mix (and ham, if using), back into the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the cheese slices on top of the mixture. Add in the chicken broth and cover the pan so that the cheese is melted.
- Add the mixture into the cut hoagie buns.
- Sprinkle with hot sauce, if desired.
Kids’ reactions: My teen LOVED this meal. My middle child who is usually a big mushroom eater wasn’t quite sure what to make of this sandwich, but she ate about half of it without saying too much. My youngest said she didn’t like the peppers; I’m working on that…
Portobello basil burgers
Aug 13th
That's not beef--that's mushrooms!
Forget the beef, earthy portobello mushrooms taste even better. And when you top them with pesto mayo, fresh basil and thick-cut bacon? Tasty. My meat-loving brother-in-law even asked for a bite–having never had a portobello mushroom before–and liked it! In fact, I think I even saw a hint of envy…
Recipe
Servings: 4
Prep time: 5 minutes + grilling
Ingredients
4 large Portobello mushrooms
¼ cup olive oil
Grill seasoning mix
Garlic powder (optional)
Onion powder (optional)
Salt and pepper
Hamburger buns
Fresh basil leaves
Sliced tomato
Bacon (if desired, you know you want it!)
1/4 cup mayo (or reduced fat cream cheese if you’re trying to go light)
1 Tablespoon prepared pesto
Directions
- Wash and dry the mushrooms. Remove the stems.
- Bring the grill to high heat.
- Brush the olive oil on one side of the mushroom. Sprinkle with seasonings as you would hamburgers. I use a mesquite grilling mix along with garlic and onion powders and then salt and pepper.
- Place the mushrooms on the grill with the oiled side down. Grill until the mushroom starts to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Brush the non-oiled side and then flip the mushroom. Grill 5 more minutes or until browned and tender.
- Mix the mayo and the pesto (I added a few sun-dried tomatoes too).
- Slather the hamburger bun top with pesto mayo. On the bottom part layer the mushroom, tomato and basil.
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