Serious Eats: Recipes
Cook the Book: Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Hazelnut Pesto and Goat Cheese
Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from Bobby Flay's Grill It! is for grilled portobello mushrooms with hazelnut pesto and goat cheese. Vegetarian entrées don’t get much better than this—beefy portobellos are sturdy enough to stand up to the open flame and the melted goat cheese adds a delicately tangy flavor. The hazelnut pesto calls for the optional addition of hazelnut oil, which can be substituted with extra virgin olive oil since it can be difficult to find and is often very expensive. If you find the idea of grilling without meat blasphemous, serve these as a side dish for steaks.
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Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Hazelnut Pesto and Goat Cheese
-makes 4 servings-
Adapted from Bobby Flay's Grill It! by Bobby Flay.
Ingredients
4 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed
3 tablespoons canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Hazelnut Pesto (recipe follows)
6 ounces fresh goat cheese, cut into small pieces
Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish
Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
Procedure
1. Heat your grill to high.
2. Brush the mushrooms on both sides with the oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the mushrooms on the grill, cap side down, and grill until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the mushrooms over and continue grilling until just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Transfer the mushrooms to a platter, cap side down, and top with a few tablespoons of the hazelnut pesto and some of the goat cheese. Garnish with parsley leaves, basil leaves, and lemon zest.
Hazelnut Pesto
- makes about 3/4 cup -
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
8 fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup hazelnuts
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon hazelnut oil, optional
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Procedure
Combine the parsley, basil, hazelnuts, garlic, olive and hazelnut oils, cheese, and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor and process until smooth. The pesto can be made 2 hours in advance, covered, and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.