Piled high with perfectly sauteed spinach, shallots, and fire-roasted tomatoes, these portobello stuffed mushrooms arepacked with flavor and absolutely delicious!
The first thing you'll need to do is make the cheese sauce. Normally, I have some of this vegan cheese already on hand because we use it with so many other dishes. If I don’t happen to have some in the refrigerator, there’s likely some in my freezer. Making the cheese sauce is as simple as boiling a pot of potatoes, onions, and carrots, adding them to a blender with spices, and blending until smooth. See instructions below.
The mushrooms need to be the large dinner size and not the smaller ones like my stuffed appetizer mushrooms. Prep the portobellos by washing them and removing the stems, but don't toss those stems out because we're going to use them in the stuffing.
I also like to remove the gills using a spoon to scrape them out. Though this is optional, I really think it's worth the few minutes it takes to clean them out to keep this dish from being dark are murky.
Chop up the stems from the mushrooms, shallot, garlic, and red bell pepper and set them to the side.
Add 3 tablespoons of veggie broth, sliced shallots, garlic, and chopped mushroom stems to a non-stick skillet. Sautee until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add additional veggie broth to keep from sticking if necessary.
Add another 3-4 tablespoons veggie broth and red bell peppers and cook another 4 minutes.
Toss in the beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and salt & pepper, and cook for approximately 5 minutes on medium heat. Toss in spinach and cook until wilted, approximately 3 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the skillet, pour it into a bowl, and set it to the side while you cook the mushroom caps.
Add 1/4 cup veggie broth and 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar to skillet. Then place mushrooms in the pan, stem side down. Cook for about 5 minutes. Flip and cook another 5 minutes.
Fill each mushroom cap with an equal amount of spinach mixture and drizzle the balsamic pan drippings. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of the cheese sauce.
Transfer mushrooms to a baking dish and place in the oven at 400°F for approximately 5-8 minutes until cheese sauce gets bubbly. Serve immediately.
Creamy Vegan Cheese Sauce
In a medium pot, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in the pot and allow to cook until veggies are tender approximately 15 minutes. Cooking time will vary based on how small the veggies are diced.
When veggies are tender, drain and place them in a blender. NOTE: reserve 1 cup of the broth, and add to blender. Add all the remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth.
Video
Notes
Pro tips & substitutions
Mushrooms- Large portobello mushrooms are needed for this recipe. Make sure to purchase the dinner size and not the button size.
Shallots- If you don't have shallots on hand, onions or leeks make great substitutions.
Beans- There are a number of different types of white beans that work well including northern beans, navy beans, and cannellini.
Bell Pepper- If you are not a bell pepper fan, these can be left out completely.
Cheese Sauce- It's a great idea to make the cheese sauce ahead of time and use the extra on any of your favorite dishes like lasagna and tacos.