Jen's Veggie Parmesan

I had a different meal slotted for tonight, and then I decided I wanted something lighter and vegetarian. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a Bunco game tonight. Bunco means lots of munching on nibbly bits and/or consuming of adult beverages. I need to travel light to Bunco, so I have room for said adult beverages and/or nibbles. So, I deleted my original dinner post and decided to go a different route. I think this dinner makes more sense on a night like tonight. I am going to loosely base this meal off of my Portobello Parmesan dish; except in addition to portobellos, I am going to use a frozen Trader Joe's marinated grilled eggplant and zucchini mix. Then, I will toss up a side salad and dinner will be served. Easy, healthy, and light!

Jen's Veggie Parmesan

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
2 large portobello mushroom caps, whole but stems and gills removed
1 bag of Trader Joe's marinaded grilled eggplant and zucchini (frozen)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar of marinara sauce
6 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup of shredded Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean mushroom caps with damp paper towel, then brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oiled grill pan over medium high heat. Grill mushrooms until tender, about 2-4 minutes per side. Grill marks should be present. Place mushrooms in a greased large 9 x 13 casserole dish, cup side up. Cook Trader Joe's eggplant/zucchini according to package directions. Once cooked, place in casserole dish with mushrooms. Sprinkle minced garlic over all the vegetables. Sprinkle all of Pecorino Romano cheese and half of the mozzarella over the vegetables. Spoon marinara sauce over veggies, making sure to spread evenly. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and all of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cheese melts and is golden and bubbly.





The Result:
This variation was every bit as good as my original dish for Portobello Parmesan. It was sooooo savory! The cheese was all bubbly and melty, and I love the combo of the different cheese flavors. Yum!! It seemed the extra vegetables made the whole thing more substantial, as well. The only difference that I would do next time is that I would slice the portobellos to get a more even distribution. Other than that, I was very pleased with the result. I will definitely make this dish again!