Portobello Mushroom Pizza

 

My husband Dave and I have been on a journey to eating healthier and living without an abundance of carbohydrates in our diet aside from what we get in our fresh fruit, vegetables, fat free milk and protein supplements. Oh and the occasional glass of wine! It made the meal prep relaxing and enjoyable for me tonight!

On this quest to finding delicious recipes that I can make to tantalize our taste buds and still eat healthily I came across quite a few versions of Portobello mushroom pizza. Each one interesting and delightful sounding and not too difficult to make.

I adjusted the recipes I found online to suit what I have on hand at the moment in our refrigerator and in my herb garden. I went out and picked some fresh basil after returning from the grocery store with my mushrooms and pre-made pizza sauce, which were the only things I didn’t already have available in the house. My herb garden is flourishing with the rain we’ve had in the last few days and I’m going to have to start sharing the abundance soon!

I could have easily made my own sauce but there are so many delicious ready made sauces that I picked up a tried and true brand and it didn’t disappoint. I already had the golden cherry tomatoes, they taste like fresh off the vine, home grown tomatoes and are a favorite of everyone in our family.

I gathered the pepperoni, low fat mozzarella and a package of Italian blend cheeses from in the refrigerator. And the sea salt, pepper grinder and olive oil from the pantry.

The first thing I read on all the recipes I found online was that I needed to take the stem out of the mushrooms and lay them top side down on a baking sheet pan and put them into the oven with a tiny bit of olive oil drizzled onto them in a 400 degree oven for about ten minutes. This cooking time and temperature really get the mushroom juices flowing.

 

At this point I took them out and scraped the ‘gill’ looking meaty flesh out of the middles and sopped up the moisture that collected in the center with clean paper towels to help further dry the meat of the mushroom out so that the finished pizza isn’t soggy. Then I stuck them back into the oven for another ten minutes.

While the mushrooms were in the oven I julienned my basil and sliced up the cherry tomatoes to have them ready to add to the layers that would be our supper.

After removing the mushrooms from the oven the second time I absorbed even more moisture that collected in the centers.  They held up really nicely because of their meatiness and smelled delicious and at this point I could have eaten them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, but I knew the goodness to come was going to be worth the wait. I then I began assembling my pizzas.

I spooned a few teaspoons of the pizza sauce into the mushrooms first, spreading it around the entire surface.

I added the pepperoni slices next, they were about an inch in diameter and layered nicely into the mushroom caps. Large pepperoni slices would have been too big for taking bites pf our pizza without pulling out the whole pepperoni slice, and that wouldn’t have been a good thing, so this worked out nicely.

Next went the tiny slices of tomato, I loaded up on these because its one of our favorite elements in a pizza. I was pleased that I had a few more cut up then I needed and had a little snack while the pizzas were in the oven, call it luck or what have you, I called it my before supper salad.

Basil was the next thing to go onto the pizza before heaping the tops with a few tablespoons of low fat cheese blend. This smelled amazing, I just love the smell of freshly chopped herbs.

The last step before putting them into the oven was a nice sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper and a little sea salt. After another 12 minutes in the oven they came out hot and golden with delicious gooey cheese and a delicious aroma that beckoned Dave and Erica into the kitchen. It was just the three of us here for supper tonight and we all really enjoyed our meal . I look forward to making these again one day soon, next time I will get some fresh mozzarella and spinach to change it up a bit. Bon Appetite’!