** This is a wonderful recipe for those “meatless Monday” meals, and the great thing is you can reserve half the mixture, chop the mushrooms, and put on top of a whole grain pizza crust the next night to get two meals for the time it takes to prepare one!
If you choose to do this, you may want to make extra and prior to adding the goat cheese, you can replace half the mixture with low fat mozzerella or Romano cheese which goes well on pizza. This recipe is very versatile in that you can replace the Farro with brown rice, and replace the goat cheese with another favorite, low fat white cheese.
Another 2nd meal option: use half the mixture plus the sliced or chopped mushrooms, for making vegetarian Quesadilla’s. Just put the mixture between two whole grain tortilla’s, bake, slice and serve!
It takes a total of 45 – 60 minutes from start to finish, but it is well worth it! And your dinner for the next evening is basically done for you, except for the cook time. Add a delicious tossed salad and you’re ready to go.
Ingredients
- 6 4-inch-diameter Portobello mushrooms, stemmed
- 4 tsp. olive oil, divided
- 2 leeks, white and pale green parts thinly sliced (2 cups)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced (2 Tbs.)
- 1 ½ Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
- 1 lb. fresh baby spinach
- 4 oz. fresh goat cheese, softened
- 2 Tbs. pine nuts
- 1 cup Farro (an Italian whole grain with chewy texture & mild, nutty flavor)
- 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray. Spray mushroom caps with cooking spray, and sprinkle gill sides with salt and pepper, if desired. Arrange mushrooms gill-sides down on prepared baking sheet. Roast 10 minutes, or until mushrooms begin to soften. Turn mushrooms over.
2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp. oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leeks, garlic, and thyme, and sauté 4 minutes, or until leeks are tender. Add 2 large handfuls spinach at a time, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, or until spinach is wilted and most liquid has evaporated, stirring often.
Stir in goat cheese and pine nuts until cheese is melted. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Fill mushrooms with spinach mixture, mounding on top and packing filling down with hands. Bake 25 minutes, or until filling browns on top and mushrooms are fork-tender.
3. Cook farro in large saucepan of boiling salted water 20 minutes, or until just tender, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to large bowl. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and remaining 2 tsp. olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. To serve, spoon 1/2 cup farro mixture onto each plate; top with 1 stuffed mushroom.
Adapted from: Vegetarian Time, October 2011
