Pesto Portobellos and Parmesan-Crusted Polenta with Sausage-Mushroom Ragout

I’ve enjoyed eating portobello mushrooms for many years now, but I’ve never tried to stuff them until now. This recipe, from the November 2005 issue of Vegetarian Times, was easy to prep and cook. My toddler — usually a bit wary of mushrooms — actually ate these delicious specimens. I halved the recipe to make 4 big stuffed portobellos.

The “prepared basil pesto” that I used was Bel Aria Pesto Genovese from Bel Canto Food: a lovely convenience food that you will not be ashamed to use. I did use the chopped hazelnuts and the parsley. It felt great to recycle those tree-like mushroom stems and use them in the stuffing too (rather than throw them away). If you are at all interested in stuffed mushrooms, do try this recipe. It’ll dazzle you.

And speaking of “convenience foods” … I was also enticed by the notion of using precooked polenta in the “Parmesan-Crusted Polenta with Sausage-Mushroom Ragout,” from the December 2007 issue of Gourmet. I used the traditional flavor polenta, available from the Quinoa Corp. You’ll need to turn up that very hot broiler in your oven, but it’s nice to melt the Parmesan on the polenta slices until they turn a bit golden.

When I first saw this recipe, I immediately knew that I would opt to use sweet Italian turkey sausage. I chose chanterelle mushrooms, since they looked great in the market that day. And instead of using a half cup of dry red wine, I used 3 oz. of apple juice and 1 oz. of dry vermouth. The “bottled marinara sauce” that I’ve been enjoying lately is the Walnut Acres Marinara & Herbs variety. All of these elements produced an incredible sauce. This is not a difficult dish to prepare. It’s beautiful and very tasty. Impress yourself and your guests.

RECIPES: two non-typical dishes are quick and easy dazzlers
PREP TIMES: 30 minutes for mushrooms; a bit more time for polenta
TASTES: pesto and hazelnuts complement those toothsome portobellos; sausage sauce is bolstered by wild mushrooms atop polenta kissed by Parmesan

Next time, I’ll cook a vegetarian meal. Let’s try “Vietnamese “Beef”-Noodle Soup,” from Nava Atlas’ Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons (recipe below), along with the “Broccoli Pancakes,” from DrWeil.com. Come back to my site on Sunday, February 17, to see what happens.

Vietnamese “Beef”-Noodle Soup

6 servings

3- to 4-oz. bundle thin rice noodles or bean-thread noodles

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

One 32-oz. carton low-sodium vegetable broth

One 5- to 6-inch piece kombu (sea vegetable), optional

2 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger, or more to taste

1/2 tsp. five-spice powder

2 cups water

6 to 8 oz. seitan, cut into thin shreds

1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 tsp. lime juice, or more to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Thinly sliced lime sections for garnish

Cook the noodles according to package directions until al dente, then drain and cut into shorter lengths suitable for soup. Set aside until needed.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the garlic and shallots and saute over medium-low heat until both are golden.

Add the broth, optional kombu, soy sauce, ginger, five-spice powder, and water. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add the bean sprouts, half of the scallions, and half of the cilantro. Season with lime juice, pepper, and if desired, some additional soy sauce. Simmer for 3 minutes longer, then remove from the heat.

Serve at once, garnishing the top of each serving with a thin wedge or two of lime, and the remaining cilantro and scallions.

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