Spinach and Ground Beef Stuffed Portobellos

I was born in Italy and raised on the Italian flavors of garlic, marinara, mozzarella, and parmesan. These staple flavors make an appearance on my meal plan each week. 

With this recipe, I took the elements of lasagna filling—ground beef, ricotta, spinach and Parmesan cheese—and nestled them into roasted portobello mushroom caps. The recipe works best with very large portobello caps; if you can only find smaller ones, buy one or two extra and divide the filling among all the caps. I served with sautéed, zucchini noodles covered with marinara and sprinkled with parmesan.

INGREDIENTS

4 large portobello mushroom caps

Cooking spray

2 cloves finely chopped garlic (I use a microplane and grate it)
1 cup  ricotta cheese (I use whole milk ricotta)
1 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
½ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons finely chopped kalamata olives
½ teaspoon dried basil (I used chopped fresh basil in the summer)

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup mozzarella cheese (I used Trader Joe's Almond Milk mozzarella)
¾ cup prepared no sugar marinara sauce (I use Trader Joe's organic marinara because it has no sugar)

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Place mushroom caps, gill-side up, on the prepared pan. Spread chopped garlic on top, and sprinkle with salt and pepper pepper to taste. Roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in sauté pan, place 1 TBSP evoo and cook about 1 minute, then add ground beef, 1/2 tsp basil and 1/2 tsp oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until browned, and cooked through. 
4. Add marinara sauce to ground beef mixture and keep warm. 
5. Meanwhile, mash ricotta, spinach, ¼ cup Parmesan, olives, basil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste  in a medium bowl. 
6. When the mushrooms are tender, carefully pour out any liquid accumulated in the caps. Return the caps to the pan gill-side up. Spread 1 tablespoon marinara into each cap; cover the remaining sauce to keep warm. Mound a generous ⅓ cup ricotta filling into each cap and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. 
7. Bake until hot, about 10 minutes. Serve with the remaining marinara sauce.

** Easy cleanup: Recipes that require cooking spray can leave behind a sticky residue that can be hard to clean. To save time and keep your baking sheet looking fresh, line it with a layer of foil before you apply the cooking spray.

Want more recipes like this, or support in your health and fitness journey in one of my Fit Clubs? Complete the form below and I'll send you info within 24 hours!

Fill out my online form.

There are tons of Wufoo features to help make your forms awesome.