Feta, “Sausage,” and Tomato Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Sooo, I have a confession to make. This recipe was not originally vegetarian. There was bacon involved. Lots of bacon involved. After reading through the directions and ingredients however, these little Portobello mushrooms looked way too delicious to not try, so I made some alterations. I know some people do not like fake meat products, and I don’t blame them.  I like almost every food ever, but I can agree that fake meat just doesn’t taste quite like the real thing. In my opinion, bacon is the worst to try and substitute (Which is such a shame because real bacon is so good!) Therefore, in this recipe I swapped out the omnivore’s bacon with a few crumbled vegetarian sausage patties- and guess what?! It was delicious! These flavor filled little mushroom caps make the perfect appetizer, side dish, or even main course if served with a hearty salad or roasted potatoes. Give them a try! Serve it with real bacon or with veggie sausage- which ever you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 large Portobello mushrooms caps, with stems removed, or six mini portobello mushrooms (either works just fine!)
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup of crumbled feta cheese (replace with a vegan cheese or omit the cheese all together to make this dish vegan!)
• 1 whole tomato, diced
• 2 crumbled “sausage” patties (I use the Morningstar variety)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly chopped basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a layer of aluminum foil in the bottom of a baking dish.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and balsamic vinegar until well combined.
3. Brush a thin layer of the balsamic vinegar and oil mixture onto both the aluminum foil covered pan, as well as the tops and bottoms of the mushroom caps.
4. Lightly sprinkle the mushroom caps with salt and pepper and arrange them on the baking dish gill side down.*
5. While the oven preheats: chop the red onion into small, thin strips, wash and dice the tomato, and microwave the sausage for one minute.
6. Crumble the “sausage” and combine in a small bowl with tomato. Set aside.
7. Sauté the onion in a medium sized saucepan in 1 tablespoon of the oil and vinegar mixture, until the onion is translucent.
8. While the onion is sautéing, place the baking dish in the oven and bake the mushroom caps for five minutes. After five minutes flip the mushroom caps over and bake for an additional five minutes.
9. Remove the mushroom caps from the oven and fill each cap with a combination of onion, tomato, crumbled feta, and crumbled “sausage.”
10. Sprinkle each mushroom cap with salt and pepper (if desired, feta can be pretty salty on it’s own!) and basil.
11. Bake for an additional five minutes to warm the tomato and melt the cheese.
12. Serve and enjoy!

Notes and Tips!:

• The gill side is the open side, where the stem would be if it had not been removed. So when the recipe says place the mushrooms “gill side down” you should see the smooth tops of the mushrooms, not the stem side.
• If you prefer to use bacon as opposed to vegetarian sausage, use 3 slices of fully cooked bacon, and crumble.
• This recipe was adapted from food blog, “How To: Simplify.”