Portobello Recipe – Roasted Mushroom Side Dish / Appetizer
Portobello mushrooms are from Mars… A UFO shaped meaty treat magically grows on composted poo… Yep an alien species! I am always amazed by their interesting structure (pop off the stalk and observe the texture) and how they seem to hover somewhere between the animal and veggie world. Maybe they are actually more like fish, they do have gills.
Anyways enough of the tangent… This recipe for preparing portobellos is SUPER simple and will give you the confidence to just pick up a few mushrooms and make them anytime. I will often grab a few of these mushrooms to make as a snack while enjoying a glass of wine cooking dinner. A great appetizer idea.
Fun Fact: Portobellos are actually just mature cremini (button) mushrooms. Check out mushroominfo.com
Recently I picked up a bottle of some exquisite balsamic vinegar a cool little shop called Old Town Oil in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago. I love finding places like this that are amazingly authentic with true quality ingredients. So just to tell you how cool it is, they have an entire store with large kegs of various olive oils and balsamic vinegars. The kegs have taps on them, and they encourage you to try EVERYTHING. This place is definitely on the list for further exploration.
Let’s cook!
Roasted Portobello Mushroom Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 – portabella mushroom caps
- 2-3 tablespoons – olive oil to drizzle
- salt
- fresh ground pepper
- balsamic vinegar
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Clean the mushrooms. I like to rinse them with the gill side down, with a gentle water sprinkle on the top. Dry immediately with a paper towel. Many people worry that rinsing the mushrooms will water-log them. But for me, the fact that they grow on poo makes me want to give them a quick rinse. Or if you are cooler than me, just give them a wipe down with a dry paper towel.
2. Pop off the stems and scrape the gills from the bottom of the caps with a spoon.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.
4. Cover a baking sheet with foil and arrange mushrooms in a single layer. Cook for 10 minutes.
5. Flip mushrooms and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
6. Slice mushrooms and drizzle just a bit of balsamic vinegar on top. If you are feeling wild, pour a small dish with additional vinegar for dipping.
Let’s Eat!
- 3 – portobello mushroom caps
- 2-3 tablespoons – olive oil to drizzle
- salt
- fresh ground pepper
- balsamic vinegar
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Clean the mushrooms. I like to rinse them with the gill side down, with a gentle water sprinkle on the top. Dry immediately with a paper towel. Many people worry that rinsing the mushrooms will water-log them. But for me, the fact that they grow on poo makes me want to give them a quick rinse. Or if you are cooler than me, just give them a wipe down with a dry paper towel.
- Pop off the stems and scrape the gills off the bottom the caps with a spoon.
- Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Cover a baking sheet with foil and arrange mushrooms in a single layer. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Flip mushrooms and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Slice mushrooms and drizzle just a bit of balsamic vinegar on top. If you are feeling wild, pour a small dish with additional vinegar for dipping.
- Enjoy!