These Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms are ideal as an easily prepared starter, a side dish, or a light, meat-free meal. Portobello mushrooms are filled with a flavoursome mixture of spinach and crumbled feta, then topped with slices of fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and chilli. They are quickly prepared from ingredients that are readily available in most supermarkets.
Preheat the grill/broiler in your oven. Line a rimmed baking tray with aluminium foil.
Clean the mushroom caps by wiping them with a damp kitchen towel and remove any grit with a pastry brush.
Remove the stems, chop them finely and set aside.
Place the garlic and the olive oil in a small bowl and mix well.Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the mushroom with the garlic oil mixture.Place the caps onto your baking tray.Place the mushrooms into the oven and grill/broil for 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms.
Brush the inside of the caps with the garlic oil and place back under the grill for 2 minutes. If the mushroom caps have filled with juices, tip the juices out so that they do not become soggy.Set aside the mushroom caps and the remaining garlic oil.
In the meantime, use your hands to squeeze the moisture out of the spinach.Heat a medium-sized non-stick frying pan over medium heat.
Add the remaining garlic oil and the chopped mushroom stalks. Cook for 2 minutes and stir, being careful to not allow the garlic to burn.Add the drained spinach and cook for a minute or two until any excess moisture has been removed. Stir occasionally. Set aside to cool. To speed up the process, transfer the spinach mixture to a bowl.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 200 degrees C (400 F).
When the spinach mixture is cool, add the crumbled feta.
Season the inside of the caps with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.Top the caps with the spinach mixture, gently pressing the mixture down to make it firm.
Add the sliced cherry tomatoes and sliced bocconcini to the top, and place in the oven for 15 minutes to heat through and become slightly golden.
Notes
Mushrooms: we prefer to use portobello mushrooms for this recipe. They're a great size, have a lovely flavour and hold lots of the filling! Our mushrooms measured about 9 cm/3 ½ inches in diameter.
Tablespoon: we use a standard Australian tablespoon which is 20 ml (4 teaspoons).
Spinach: you can also use fresh baby spinach - about 250 g/8.8 oz. Cook as described for the frozen spinach, until wilted and cooked.
Bocconcini: come in various sizes. Choose cherry/baby bocconcini. If you can only buy larger ones, cut them to size to suit.