Garlicky Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Probably one of the most welcome side dishes at any dinner, we love these stuffed mushrooms all year round. They are so good just solo as a veggie main course, or with grilled meats (especially venison or beef steaks).

INGREDIENTS – Serves 4

• 5 large portobello mushrooms
• Olive oil 1 onion, very finely diced
• 2 x garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 2 or 3 slices of sourdough
• 75g parmesan
• Sea salt and pepper
• Handful of parsley and tarragon, finely chopped

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C convection or 200°C static oven. Set out four of the mushrooms on a non-stick baking tray, or line a tray with greaseproof paper. To tidy them up you can cut the stalk in the middle or pull it out gently (only use four of the mushrooms as the fifth is for the mixture inside).

2. If you have a small food processor, add the onion and garlic then blitz lightly – you don’t want a paste but rather really finely chopped up. Remove, then add to a large frying pan with some olive oil over a medium heat. You want the mixture to cook out but not colour too heavily. Add the remaining mushroom (plus any stalks) to the food processor and lightly blitz – again, you don’t want it too fine – just a couple of pulses will do it. Alternatively, simply use a knife and dice up finely. Add the mushroom to the pan and stir well.

3. While this is cooking out, add the sourdough and about 2/3 of the parmesan to the food processor, or if you prefer, you could grate the parmesan instead. Blitz until really fine. If you don’t have a food processor don’t panic, you could use store bought breadcrumbs instead.

4.  The mushroom onion mix in the pan should be cooking out quite nicely now. You can add a dash of white wine if you have it to hand, but this is not essential – if you do add, make sure to let it evaporate. Next, add the breadcrumbs, parmesan and stir well to combine over a low to medium heat. Season well with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Stir in the herbs and taste to check the seasoning.

5. Add the mushroom mixture to each of the mushrooms on the tray and press down gently. For an extra kick, sprinkle some red chilli flakes! Place in the oven for around 20 minutes until crispy on the top and cooked through. When you remove them from the oven, you’ll notice the bottoms of the mushrooms are always soft, they don’t crisp up.

6. To serve, add some grated parmesan and fresh parsley.