Baked Mozzarella-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Make the best stuffed baked portobello mushrooms! The caps are filled with crunchy Parmesan breadcrumbs, gooey melted mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven surrounded by colorful roasted vegetables. Serve the mushrooms as an appetizer, side, or vegetarian main dish.

📝 Ingredients

• 1 cup panko crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (plus a little more for serving)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 portobello mushroom caps (about 1 1/2 pounds with stems removed)
• 8 ounces cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper (sliced into 1/2-inch dice)
• 1 small zucchini (sliced into half-moons)
• 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)
• 1 tablespoon grated or finely chopped garlic
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme)
• Kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 ounces mozzarella or fontina cheese (shredded)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Heat oven to 400 (200 C) degrees.
2. 2--- Mix the stuffing: ---
3. 3Put the breadcrumbs, cheese, olive oil and parsley in a bowl. Stir to combine and moisten the crumbs.
4. 4--- Prepare the baked mushrooms and vegetables: ---
5. 5Pull the stems off the caps. Scrape out the gills with a spoon.
6. 6Combine the tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, red onion, garlic, crushed chili pepper, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss everything around to coat.
7. 7Nestle the mushroom caps, gill side up, into the vegetables so they lay flat in the pan. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Evenly spoon the breadcrumbs into each cap, using about ¼ cup for each one.
8. 8Bake the mushrooms 25 minutes. The vegetables should look shriveled and the breadcrumbs golden brown.
9. 9Distribute the cheese evenly over the top of the mushrooms. Return to the pan to the oven. Bake about 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted.
10. 10Sprinkle with some additional parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.