Here I am, at it again! Cooking!
This recipe is a basic, tasty dish that uses a protein I wasn’t familiar with, personally, but which is a treat to many before me: the portobello mushroom. This dish is one notch away from being vegetarian — one deliciously wonderful notch. So, you’re able to modify this to suit a few different dietary needs.
Plus, it’s frakkin’ delicious and easy to make in about 15 minutes.
You should pick up:
- Portobello Mushroom Caps — often sold is a store-wrapped package at your grocer. They look like this.
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 to 2 Garlic Cloves (depending on how garlic’y you like things), peeled and minced
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, cut into strips (you can sub in a green pepper if you’re stuck, but red or orange peppers are the best — you should know this already)
- Strips of Bacon (one for each mushroom cap)
- Montreal Steak Spicy seasoning (you can use pepper and red pepper flakes if you want to get close)
- Salt (don’t measure your salt, just go with what feels right)
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese (this is a topping, so have enough to top your caps)
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (also for our cheesy topping)
Got it all? Ready to go? Nice. Let’s continue!
- Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and peppers. Season with salt. Cook uncovered for a couple minutes, and then…
- Add strips of bacon to the skillet. I find placing them around the edges is best. Continue cooking 2 to 3 minutes until peppers are tender. While tenderizing your peppers…
- Prepare your mushroom caps by first washing them, then drizzle some olive oil on and in the gills (the underside). Season the underside to taste with Montreal Steak (or your pepper substitute) and a bit a salt.
- Now, flip the bacon and add your mushroom caps to the center of the skillet, cooking the underside first. Reduce heat to low-medium, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Your kitchen is going to start smelling really great about now, if it doesn’t already.
- After 5 minutes or so, flip the bacon and mushrooms once more. Layer both shredded cheese on the mushrooms (you are applying the cheese to the seasoned underside of the mushrooms). Cover it up again and cook for another 5 minutes, until tender.
- Now it’s ready! Remove from heat and plate! Take each cheesy mushroom cap off the skillet, then cover each with your pepper/garlic reduction. Put a strip of bacon on top and it’s good-to-go delicious!
It looks like more work than it is. Total prep and cook time should be about 15-20 minutes. And it’s worth it. The bacon fat helps the peppers and garlic reach a state of “more awesome than usual” without robbing the dish of its healthiness.
I suggest you serve beside Tomato Lentil Couscous, which is a great compliment.
Wow! Colin cooked up mushrooms!
