"Best Dinner Ever" Goat Cheese and Marinara Stuffed Portabellos

"Best dinner ever!" That is literally what my husband exclaimed when he was eating this. (Which is why it is especially sad that my picture is so crappy! ;)) I seriously need a  new camera...Anyway, this dish was inspired by an appetizer from a great tapas restaurant in Chicago, Cafe Iberico. They  have this fabulous bubbling marinara topped with goat cheese that you dunk little pieces of crostini into. It is heavenly. I wanted to come up with a way to capture the flavor combo into a maindish so I added the portabellos and voila! Goat Cheese and Marinara Stuffed Portabellos was born. I tossed a cut up one into whole wheat penne and believe it or not, even my 18 month old was signing, "More!" That's the biggest compliment to any recipe, since he pretty much doesn't eat anything. I hope your family enjoys it as much as we did.

Here's What You Need:

4 large portabellos
4oz goat cheese

Seasoning (I used Penzey's Tuscan Sunset)
All natural marinara or pizza sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Here's What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 400. Clean the mushrooms, trimming the stalk. Also, use a fork to scrape off the "gills" on the inside of the mushroom. Lightly brush both sides of the mushrooms with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and preheat a grill pan to medium high. Grill the mushrooms about four minutes per side. Fill each mushroom with about 3 large TBS of marinara/pizza sauce. Cut the goat cheese into 4 "disks". Press the disks into your favorite Italian seasoning and then place in the middle of the mushrooms. Bake for about 15 minutes. I  then broiled mine for 2 minutes, turning once.

Kid Tip:

My kids LOVED this. They had no idea what it was, however, as I cut up the baked portabello and tossed it with whole grain penne. I think I will even toss some baby spinach in next time.

Overall? Huge success with the whole fam.

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