Pizza Stuffed Bellas

Sometimes your favorites come from what you have on hand in the pantry or fridge. In this case, both. I absolutely love mushrooms and we have an excellent selection at our local Farmer’s Market. This past week the portabellas looked irresistible and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them. I had a feeling they’d end up being stuffed with something delicious. I happen to love pizza flavors, so I decided on a pizza themed stuffed mushroom. The portabellas I had were, HUGE. So, adjust your recipe as you see fit. For one pound of meat, I’d say 4 decent size portabellas should work perfect with about ¼ lb of meat mix per shroom.

When cleaning a mushroom, never submerge or soak in water. Use a damp cloth and wipe off the dirt.

Ingredients:

4 Portabellas, cleaned - stems removed and gills scraped out
1 lb. Ground beef
1 jar pizza sauce or 2 cups homemade sauce (I love MIDS pizza sauce)
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Olive oil
Cheese optional (I used raw milk cheese and it was phenomenal)

Directions:

Heat olive in a pan and sauté the garlic and onions until they are translucent. Add in the ground beef and cook through. I like to cook mine until it’s a little bit crispy. Stir in the pizza sauce until combined and warmed through, so the flavors marry. Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil and also rub the outside of the portabella with olive oil. Lay down onto baking sheet with the cleaned gill side up and place pizza beef mixture into the shroom, being cautious not to overfill it. Top with a sprinkle of cheese and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

These are gooey pizza imitations that outdo the real deal and are much healthier too!

Picture Source Here

Thought for the Day:

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drowned your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

Eggplant Parmesan Sorta

This super easy weeknight meal rocked! It was way better than I had imagined and much lighter than a traditional eggplant parmesan. I wanted eggplant parmesan, but I didn’t want the breaded fried goodness that comes with it, so I had a dilemma. Not really, but it makes this recipe sound way cooler. I am in love with Mezetta pasta sauce because it’s gluten free and free of some other junk that our bodies do not need on a regular basis. I love making my own pasta sauce, but some nights you need something bottled and quick. This dish reheated well for the next couple nights of dinner too!

Roasted Eggplant

1 Eggplant
Garlic Power
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Olive Oil

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Trim the ends of your eggplant off and stand it on one flat end to make it easy to cut the skin off. Slice the eggplant lengthwise and lay flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with garlic powder and black pepper. Pop in the oven for about 10-15 minutes and flip. The edges will start to turn a little brown and the eggplant will be tender.

Sausage Marinara Topper

1 lb. ground pork sausage (beef, chicken, or turkey could be subbed) 

1 Jar Mezetta Pasta Sauce (or your favorite, or a nice homemade sauce)
(Click HERE for a great semi-homemade sauce)

Brown the sausage until cooked through, then add the marinara. Cook until heated through.  Serve over roasted eggplant and let it melt in your mouth.


Here's a picture of the pasta sauce I used from the companies website