Pizza Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
You know, it’s kind of hypocritical how I ended up with this recipe. You must have seen all the different pizza base variations out there – zucchini base pizzas, cauliflower base pizzas; I actually saw a sprout base pizza not too long ago (yeah who knows). It kinda left me with the question which I’m sure asking right now, can’t a pizza just be a pizza?
Mushrooms contain a huge amount of water, which is consequently released when they are cooked. The first few rounds of testing this recipe I did what felt sensible, and merely chucked the fillings in the mushrooms and baked them in the oven. However it soon became apparent that unless I wanted a portobello swimming in water, it wasn’t going to work.
Pizza Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
12 mins
Total Time
22 mins
These Pizza Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms are super easy, quick and great fun to make. Also they're PERFECT for the low-carb community among us!
Course: Appetizer, Brunch, Leftovers, Lunch
Cuisine: Italian, Original
Keyword: Pizza Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Servings: 4
Calories: 134 kcal
Ingredients
4 Portobello Mushrooms (see notes)
4 tbsp Pizza Sauce
4 tbsp Cheddar, grated (or cheese of choice)
12 small slices Chorizo
4 tbsp Mixed Peppers, finely diced
4 tsp Onion, finely diced
1 tsp Italian Herbs
Salt & Black Pepper
Olive Oil
Method
Preheat oven to 200c (390f).
Remove stalks from the mushrooms and scrape out the gills with a teaspoon. Lightly coat with Oil and give a good seasoning of Salt and Pepper. Grab a toothpick/cocktail stick and pierce the mushroom 4-5 times. This will allow moisture to drip out during cooking.
Place on a rack over a pan to catch the moisture that leaves. Bake for around 6-10 minutes or until they just begin to wilt and produce water. You want to ensure some moisture leaves, but not until they completely wilt flat. Use your best judgement based on the size of your mushrooms.
Drain away/soak up the excess moisture then finish building your masterpiece. Use a first layer of Pizza Sauce, then Cheese, then evenly sprinkle the rest of your toppings and finish with a dusting of Italian Herbs. Pop back in the oven and grill/broil for a few minutes until the cheese starts to crisp.
Enjoy! Oh and maybe grab some napkins. That cheese is gonna be oozey.
Watch how to make it!
Recipe Notes
a) Portobello Mushrooms - Try and get the most curved portobellos you can find. If they start out flat, they're going to wilt too much in the oven and the toppings will spill out. Also you can definitely trade out the portobello mushroom with just large flat mushrooms, just consider reducing your baking time depending on how much smaller they are.
b) Cleaning - As 'extra' as it may seem to clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth, do try and avoid washing them. They contain a hefty amount of moisture as it is and cleaning under tap unfortunately will only add to that.
c) Herbs - You can sub your own herbs, my advice however is to definitely include Basil and Oregano.
d) Finely diced toppings - Because the toppings only have a short amount of time under the grill, it's important to avoid large chunks of onion/pepper just to give them the best chance of cooking all the way through.
e) Baking - You can extend the baking time and completely cook the mushrooms through, which will extract a good amount of moisture. However this massively increases the chance of your mushrooms wilting completely flat. I personally enjoy the mushrooms still with a bit of their naturally curve, just so they contain as much filling as possible. In such case I find the optimum time for this, whilst still draining out some of the mushroom moisture, lies between 6-10 minutes. Use your best judgement for your desired result based on the size of your mushrooms!
f) Calories - based per mushroom pizza.