Saturday, June 13, 2009

Last Night's Dinner: Grilled Portobello Bruschetta

My dear husband loves to grill, bbq, smoke meats, well anything that involves cooking outside! The only problem when he does this, is that he hardly ever considers (or makes) a side. No matter how many times I tell him, he still believes that meat can make up a whole meal!
Well one of very few friends that actually visit us, told us recently that he has decided to be a vegetarian. My husband and I agreed to make a nice vegetarian meal for him on the grill. This was a challenge for my hubby, but not me. I played with this and that and came up with my very first bruschetta recipe!

GRILLED PORTOBELLO BRUSCHETTA

4-6 large portobello mushroom caps
2 medium roma tomatoes
1 .66oz package of basil leaves (about 2-3 tbsp or 10-20 leaves maybe)
4-5 cloves garlic
4(ish) tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-6 thick slices of mozzarella cheese

First we are going to get the topping ready. Throw the garlic in the food processor and turn it on until the garlic is minced(ish). Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the stem section, plop these, along with the basil leaves, into the food processor. Add a touch of oil, maybe 1 tbsp or less. Pulse this just a few times until the tomatoes are diced to about 1/2 to 1 inch chunks. Set this aside (maybe in the ice box if you like the contrast of hot and cold).

Then rinse the mushroom caps, and clean them the best that mushrooms can be cleaned. Brush them with remaining olive oil. You don't have to use it all, just make sure they are covered! Place caps on the grill for about 5-10 minutes on each side. When the mushrooms are just about tender place the cheese inside the cap, kinda like a bowl. Once the cheese melts a little remove from grill and top with bruschetta topping.

NOTES: I used a box of basil I bought at Kroger, most grocery stores have these now in the produce section. I really don' t remember how much was in it but it said it was .66 oz.

The first time I made these I saved some of the bigger leaves and put one on top of each muchroom before serving. It made them really pretty! :)

My husband hates mushrooms, but with this recipe he says he has been converted!

MY RATING: 5 out of 5 mushrooms! YUMMY!

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