Spinach, Cannellini & Sausage Stuffed Portabellas

Stuffed portabellas are something I haven’t had in a long time and I honestly forgot about them until I saw a recipe come up in my feed for some chicken parm stuffed mushrooms.

I originally wanted to make this a vegetarian option, but ended up adding in some sausage I had in the fridge. However if you’d like to make this vegetarian, it still works out as a filling meal with the cannellini beans for protein.

The mushrooms at the store this week were HUGE! They were the size of my hand! So when I made a half recipe of this, it only made 2 big ones. It worked out though because 1 big one is a good meal with a side of green beans.

For the average size portabella cap, this recipe should make 8 and serve 4 along with a veggies, rice or other side.

Below is a picture to show you what I mean when I say scoop the gills out of the mushroom. This allows for more room to stuff the mushroom.

Makes 8, Serves 4

Ingredients

8 portabella mushroom caps

Filling

olive oil

10 oz spinach (6 large handfuls)

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 15.5oz can cannellini beans

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 lb ground sausage

1 c ricotta

1 c mozzarella, shredded

1/2 c parmesan, shredded or grated

1 egg

2 t fresh basil, chopped

2 t fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Topping

1 T butter

1 c bread crumbs

1 t paprika

Directions

1. Start by scooping out the gills of your mushroom caps (see earlier in this post to see what I mean) gently with a spoon.

2. Preheat oven to 425F.

3. Next in a large pan on medium heat cook a drizzle of oil and your spinach until it wilts down. Remove the spinach from the pan and put in a large bowl.

4. In that same pan cook another drizzle of oil, onion, beans, garlic and sausage for about 8 minutes until everything is cooked through. Remove from the pan and add to the spinach.

5. Mix in the remaining filling ingredients and stuff your mushroom caps.

6. In a small pan on medium heat, melt the butter. Mix in the bread crumbs and paprika. Let the crumbs toast for a couple minutes and soak up the butter. Then top your caps with this mixture.

7. Bake your caps (uncovered, very important) for 15 minutes and enjoy.

Notes

Gluten-free: This recipe is gluten-free as long as you use panko bread crumbs like I did.

Dairy-free: This recipe is not dairy-free, but can be if you use dairy-free substitutes for the cheese.

Servings: This recipe can make anywhere from 2 to 8 stuffed portabella caps depending on the size of your mushrooms. When I made these, they just so happed to be HUGE (like the size of my hand huge) so I only got 4 out of it.

Spinach: Use whatever type of spinach you like. I used a 10oz bag of curly spinach, but regular and baby spinach will also do just fine. You can also try other leafy greens like kale or escarole.

Sausage: You can use 4 sausage links instead by either chopping them up into small pieces or removing the casing and using the ground meat. That’s what I did because I already had links in the freezer.

Bread Crumbs: I used panko bread crumbs to keep it gluten-free and because I prefer them over regular for their crunch. You can certainly use regular if you prefer.

Meal Prep Notes

Option 1: Make full recipe ahead of time, store in fridge for up to 5 days and reheat in the microwave or oven.

Option 2: Make up to step 5, store in the fridge for up to 5 days and cook them according to instructions when ready to eat.

Option 3: Make up to step 5, store in the freezer for up to 30 days. Defrost on the counter and cook according to directions.