Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Portobellos

I'm in a bit of a hurry this afternoon, since I'm trying to get my blog updates done while my twins are napping. I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, since I really need to finish this month's book selection for my book club. I typically prefer laying on the couch reading a book better than blog updating anyway (just keepin' it real, folks!).

This was a very tasty vegetarian dinner that we had a few weeks ago. I don't remember any details, other than it was solid and pleasing to the adults at my house. I seem to recall the kids...eh, not so much. We served this dinner with a side salad and some whole wheat spaghetti with garlic and olive oil. Yum! It was a light, Italian feast for sure.

Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Portobellos
From: EatingWell magazine, March/April 2009

Ingredients:
4 large portobello mushroom caps
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons finely chopped kalamata olives
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3/4 cup prepared marinara sauce


Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray

Place mushroom caps, gill-side up, on the prepared pan. Sprinkle with salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, mash ricotta, spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan, olives, Italian seasoning and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Place marinara sauce in a small bowl, cover and microwave on High until hot, 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes.

When the mushrooms are tender, carefully pour out any liquid accumulated in the caps. Return the caps to the pan gill-side up. Spread 1 tablespoon marinara into each cap; cover the remaining sauce to keep warm. Mound a generous 1/3 cup ricotta filling into each cap and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. Bake until hot, about 10 minutes. Serve with the remaining marinara sauce.