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Grilled Potobello Mushroom Burger with Roasted Ricotta, Basil and Cherry Tomatoes

June 18th, 2012

My kids love mushrooms. Weird? Maybe. So I always looking for new mushroom centric recipes…

But I had never introduced them to what I find to be one of the most beautiful vegetables on earth (well, at least the underneath side.) The Portobello mushroom. A MONSTER sized mushroom at that.

They really are so big and delicious, that you can marinate them, grill them and eat them in place of steak. I remember that this is how I had them for the very first time- on accident. I was a teenager and thought I was eating a delectable strip of flank steak. Turns out mushrooms can be delectable too.

Ok- I will quit blathering and get down to business. I would never propose on a normal night that we have something as vegetarian as a Portobello Burger. I feel like my husband would just be confused. But he was gone all of last week. And when I saw these Asiago Portobello Burgers on How Sweet It is, and I freaked out. I don’t know, I guess I was craving A mushroom burger and I didn’t even know it. I thought that it was maybe possible that my kids would kind this interesting too.

I literally went out and bought the Portobello mushrooms and this what I did:

Ripped the stems off.

Drizzled the shrooms’ with olive oil (on both sides) and sprinkled them with Kosher salt.

I stuck them on a medium grill. I like to start with the bottom face down.

And then finish cooking them with the bottom up so it collects all of the juice. This will take a bout 5 minutes on each side.

I also like to grill the bun just a little bit too.

Meanwhile, I covered a pan in foil and added a little nest of basil leaves.

Then I plopped some fresh creamy ricotta on top.

Next came cherry tomatoes, balsamic glaze and shallots- plus another drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Kosher salt.

I roasted this in the oven at 400 degrees for the same amount of time it took to finish those mushrooms.

I scooted the finished mushrooms onto the slightly toasted ciabatta bun

Then, using the basil leaves as the base- I slid the ricotta onto the top of the mushroom, where it had a nice little natural mushroom bowl to sit in.

I topped it with a bun and dug in.

AMAZING!!!!

By the way- my kids loved the mushrooms, but were totally repulsed with my additions to the burger- but that only left more deliciousness for me.