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Baked Stuffed Portabellini Mushrooms

by Terry Paulding and Tracy Paulding
stuffed portabello mushrooms topped with cheese
Number of Servings: 
Serves 4
Recipe Source: 
Terry and Tracy Paulding of Paulding & Company

Ingredients

  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1⁄3 cup French lentils
  • 4 very fresh Portabellini mushrooms, about 3” with rounded, not flat, caps
  • 1 small red onion
  • 2 large garlic cloves
  • 2 medium tomatoes
  • 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp. each, mild and picante smoked Pimenton
  • kosher or sea salt & pepper to taste
  • Juice of 1⁄2 small lemon (about 1 tablespoon; if you have extra, save to add if needed)
  • 1⁄4 cup chopped parsley
  • 1⁄2 cup grated Manchego cheese or any other interesting, not bland, cheese

Directions

  1. Grate the zucchini on the large holes of the grater, then place in a bowl with the teaspoon of kosher salt. Let stand while you do the rest of the vegetable prep, then drain and squeeze dry in a clean towel. Set aside. 
  2. Combine the picked over and rinsed lentils with 1 1⁄2 cups water in a small pot, bring to a boil, turn the flame down, and cook 15 minutes or until almost tender. Drain and set aside.
  3. Prepare the vegetables. Have these ingredients near the stove before you start to cook.
    1. Remove the stem from each mushroom by snapping it carefully out of the cap, and chop the stems fine.
    2. Fine-chop the onion, and add to the mushroom stems. Peel and mince the garlic.
    3. Cut the stem from each tomato, make an X in the bottom with a knife, and either blanch for 10 seconds in boiling water, or quickly grill over an open flame — the gas flame on your stove works well. You want the skin to loosen, so you can pull it off, without cooking the tomatoes. Chop the skinned tomatoes, removing seeds if there are a lot.
  4. Prepare the filling mixture. You can do all the prep the day before or in the morning, then refrigerate until ready to bake and eat.
    1. Sauté onions and mushrooms in olive oil, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and drained zucchini, then cook and stir briefly to combine the ingredients.
    2. Add chopped tomatoes and season well with both types of pimenton; taste the mixture, it should be smoky, and a bit spicy, and also a little salty.
    3. Fold in the cooked lentils. Taste and re-season with more salt and pepper as needed.
    4. Add the lemon juice. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is juicy but not runny, taste once more and adjust seasonings if needed, including adding more lemon.
    5. Remove from the heat and fold in half the cheese.
  5. Stuff mushrooms with the mixture, and top with remaining cheese.
  6. Preheat oven to between 350° and 375° F. You can put these in with any other thing you’re roasting, the temperature is a bit flexible. Place mushrooms on a parchment-covered, lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft and juicing out a bit, and the filling is toasty with nicely browned cheese. Serve hot and enjoy!

Notes

  • If you've refrigerated the mushrooms, you may need a bit more cooking time.
Nutrition Info: 
243 Calories, 12 g Protein, 16 mg Cholesterol, 23 g Carbohydrates, 7 g Total sugars (0 g Added sugars), 6 g Fiber, 13 g Total fat (4 g sat), 656 mg Sodium, ★★★★★ Vitamin K, ★★★ Vitamin B3 (niacin), Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Folate, Phosphorus, ★★ Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), ★ Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Zinc

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Contributor

Terry Paulding

Teaching people to cook, and cook well, is where Paulding & Company had it’s beginnings. Terry Paulding, a former restaurant cook and culinary school grad, taught adult education classes for many years. As time passed, her students wanted more–to bring their office groups into the kitchen to play and build team spirit, to have parties where everyone cooked, and to have Terry cater their weddings and parties with the same great food they were learning in classes.

The business grew organically. With the encouragement of friends and family, the Emeryville kitchen was created. Opened in January of 2004, the kitchen is a warm, friendly, clean space that combines lots of room for group work and dining, with a professional catering kitchen set-up.

Tracy Paulding

A few years after the kitchen opened, Terry’s daughter Tracy joined Paulding & Company, and, besides working side-by-side with her mother on events, decided to start a summer camp for kids—and so, Cook! Programs was born.

Tracy grew up in a food-centric family where, before she learned to cook, she learned to love to eat. After leaving home she found herself inextricably drawn to the kitchen, everywhere she went. Armed with a natural sense for food, a love for feeding people, and a keen wanderlust, Tracy cooked her way from the mountains of New Mexico to the city of Kyoto to the bluffs of the Mississippi in Wisconsin and back to her home in the Bay Area (with many stops in between).

Tracy’s greatest joy is bringing people of all ages together to share in joys of cooking and eating.

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