5.02.2008

The perfect fungi

Don't you wish you were eating dinner at my house tonight?


Even I'm a little jealous of the Carrie from 43 minutes ago. The girl who had yet to eat her delicious portobello mushroom sandwich. Why does it have to go so quickly?

We have had these delightful treats for dinner 3 times this week - and they aren't getting old. A word of warning though. This is not a meal to share with a new acquaintance. You and your guest will end up covered in ricotta cheese - smeared from one ear to the next.

Portobello Mushroom Sandies

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 TBS extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• Salt and pepper
• 4 large portobello mushrooms
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 rounded TBS tomato paste
• 1 ½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 TBS store bought pesto sauce
• ½ cup chicken stock or broth
• 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 4 Kaiser rolls split in half
• 8 thin slices prosciutto
• 1 small bunch of arugula (I used spinach)

Preheat the oven to 450

In a shallow bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar, about 2 TBP of the EVOO, salt and pepper. Add the Portobello mushrooms and toss to coat. Arrange the mushrooms on a cookie sheet gill side up. Roast for 12 minutes.

While mushrooms cook, heat a medium-size skillet over medium high heat with 2 TBP EVOO. Add the sliced red onions, garlic, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Cook the onions, stirring frequently for about 8 minutes.

In a bowl, mix the ricotta cheese and pesto. Once the mushrooms have roasted for 12 minutes, remove and spread ricotta mixture among the mushrooms (gill side up). Return to the over for a minute to heat the cheese

Add the chicken stock and chopped olives to the onions. Turn the heat to high and continue to cook until the stock has reduced almost completely.

Arrange one cheese topped mushroom on the bottom of each split roll. Top the cheese with some of the onions. Top that with 2 slices of prosciutto, arugula and other 1/2 of roll.

4 servings

9 comments:

Christina said...

Oh yes... I remember these. My mouth is watering. Do you have any left? :)

Natalee said...

Shoot, I would make them tonight but I am missing the mushrooms, onion, ricotta, pesto, and proshwatchamacallit. Are these ingredients you have on hand? I have so much to learn.

di said...

yummmmmmmm! those look amazing! they will probably become my new craving! thanks for the recipe. is it a food network one?

carrie said...

I know. The ingredient list is a bit daunting. I only make them once a year - but when I do, I make them often (once i buy the staple ingredients i keep buying fresh portobellos and making the sandis until all the ingredients are gone.)

I got the recipie from a Rachel Ray cookbook. You know the one - it says dinners take 30 minutes, but it really takes 4 hours to make the stuff? The first time I made them it took a while...but now i actually can make them in less than 30 minutes.

sara said...

how the HECK do you get all that into your mouth for a bite? that's one of the tallest sandwiches i've ever seen. looks delicious though... minus the ricotta.

carrie said...

You smash it down - thus the huge mess.

leslie said...

oh my gosh!! i gotta give these a go.... thanks carrie!!

Yah Yah said...

I'm surprised that Sara actually wondered how a Lewis [known for our big and somewhat "loud" mouths] could procure a bite.

Amanda said...

Uh... YUM! I can't wait to try these puppies out!