Want some cheese? Or how about whole lot of cheese? And how about some mushrooms to go with it? Stuffed mushrooms, mushroom pizza. Whatever you want to call it. Point is, there’s giant Portobello mushrooms hollowed out with delicious stuffing and toppings heaped inside. A reinvented way of delivering all the toppings that makes pizza great, minus the carbs.
Margherita pizza is the simple one. Marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil leaves. That’s about it. On top of a lovely, meaty, protein packed mushroom. YUM.
I made something similar last year although I was rather fancy pants about it and called it Portobello Parmesan Au Gratin. Which basically translates to breadcrumbs and cheese toppings. It’s a way of making your regular mushroom sound like a five star meal. Something you can pick up a snowy white napkin to and delicately lay it across your lap while you eat. Jokes aside, it was pretty freaking delicious and I wouldn’t mind getting my daily serving of protein this way.
But this time round, I’m gonna call it a pizza because one, there’s no breadcrumbs and two, pizza is just plain fun. And it sounds like something most people can cook at home. Unlike an Au Gratin. “What is this Au Gratin thing you speak of and why do I want to eat it?” *runs away*.
So here we have the humble mushroom pizza with three basic toppings. I beefed it up a little with some grape tomatoes before the cheese topping. Because tiny tomatoes stuffed into a mushroom, how cute is that? All this ready on your table in less than 30 minutes. And none of the hassle of having to toss away those pizza boxes.
All you gotta do is find the biggest Portobello mushrooms you can find, remove the stem, use a spoon to scrape off the inside gills, bake it, fill it to your hearts content and broil it to make that cheese top melt. Done and done. Oh and if you’re looking for a sweet roasted marinara sauce recipe to go along with it, I have that too!
As with most stuff with a lot of cheese, this is gonna look and be messy. It’s not meant to woo you with your eyes. Aside from the liberal amount of cheese that is (that’s all it takes to woo me). It’s just a vessel for fulfilling your cheese fix while skipping the carbs from normal pizza.
And if you happen to love Portobello mushrooms like I do, then all the better. Juicy, meaty, earthy, chewy mushroom bites filled with gooey cheese and the sweetness of cherry tomatoes. Yes, please.
Print
Margherita Mushroom Pizza
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 4 large Portobello mushrooms, stems removed
- Olive oil
- 8 tablespoons marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
- 2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wipe down the mushroom caps with a damp paper towel to remove any dirt
- Gently scrape off the gills inside the mushrooms caps with a teaspoon
- Brush the caps with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Line a baking sheet with foil, arranging the mushrooms on it stem side up
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes until they release moisture and get juicy. Drain any excess moisture from the caps
- Spoon 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce into each mushroom
- Add some cherry tomatoes and basil leaves
- Top each cap with mozzarella cheese
- Broil at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes or until the cheese starts bubbling
- Dish and garnish with freshly chopped basil
27 Comments
Nagi {RecipeTin Eats}
July 25, 2014 at 4:45 PMyum yum yum yum yum!! I am about to head off to the grocery store to pick up weekend supplies and this is going on my list!! It’s SO EASY. Such a great idea – thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
July 25, 2014 at 5:49 PMHope you like it…and be careful! It can get messy, in a good way. I used a knife and fork 😉
Christine @ Taste of Divine
July 25, 2014 at 9:36 PMI’m totally making this the next time I get my hands on some portobellos! Pinning and sharing on Facebook 🙂
The Cooking Jar
July 25, 2014 at 10:01 PMThanks, Christine! And if you have a favorite marinara sauce, all the better! Which reminds me, I should probably link my marinara sauce in this post.
Connie @ Sprig and Flours
July 26, 2014 at 1:30 AMThis is so brilliant! I can’t wait to try it.
Ps. your photos are so beautiful!
The Cooking Jar
July 26, 2014 at 8:50 PMThanks so much Connie! It’s always nice to hear that 🙂
Muna Kenny
July 26, 2014 at 1:10 PMFarah, you dressed up these simple mushrooms and made them look and taste wow! 🙂
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
July 26, 2014 at 8:51 PMHaha! Mushrooms in disguise!
Dini @ giramuk
July 26, 2014 at 8:19 PMOh wow Farah!!! This is an awesome way to get my husband to eat his veggies!!! I am going to buy Mushrooms this week to make these! Love the pictures!! 🙂
The Cooking Jar
July 26, 2014 at 8:52 PMWho says veggies can’t be fun?! Hope he eats them! 🙂
Geetha
July 29, 2014 at 6:16 PMMade these today– awesome recipe thanks for sharing 🙂 Nice to have a healthier way to get my pizza fix!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
July 30, 2014 at 2:54 PMI’m always excited hearing people’s feedback after making my stuff! That’s GREAT!!!
Nicole
December 2, 2014 at 6:08 PMHi Farah! I really like this recipe! I added a few touches to it, I use Buffalo mozzarella and a bit of oregano. Congrats for your site, it’s magnificent! =D
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
December 3, 2014 at 2:48 PMSounds yummy!And thank you for the compliment! It’s my baby 🙂
Doug
March 4, 2015 at 7:37 PMThanks for the recipe! Great idea to use mushrooms as the “bread” to keep it low carb.
The Cooking Jar
March 6, 2015 at 1:29 PMVery welcome, Doug! Also great how meaty and full of protein those mushrooms are!
Dewi
June 19, 2015 at 12:49 AMI’m going to the market and looking for these mushrooms
★★★★★
Kristi Rimkus
July 18, 2015 at 5:45 PMHi Farah! What a great idea this is. I’m going to try this on the grill. It’s too hot here in Seattle to turn on the stove, but I bet these would be terrific grilled.
The Cooking Jar
July 18, 2015 at 6:01 PMGood luck grilling them, Kristi. Let me know how it turns out and how you did it? I’m curious!
Scott Williams
April 8, 2017 at 4:10 PMAdding cheese to the mushrooms was an excellent idea and the taste was incredible. What kind of photos did you use for this recipe?
The Cooking Jar
April 17, 2017 at 1:31 AMI’m glad you enjoyed it, Scott. Do you mean what camera I used?
Justina Green
July 21, 2017 at 11:45 AMThis was VERY good!! We ate these with a side salad and it was a perfect meal. I will absolutely make this again!!
The Cooking Jar
August 2, 2017 at 1:50 AMSo happy you liked it, Justina! I looooove mushrooms 🙂
rene magdalene
April 5, 2019 at 9:54 AMLooks delicious!
Looking at the nutrition label, 22g protein stated seems pretty high, though… I guess most of it comes from cheese?
1large Portobello has only 0.7g protein… 🙂
The Cooking Jar
April 17, 2019 at 4:36 PMI honestly can’t say. I usually just input the ingredients as best as I can into a calorie calculator as a matter of courtesy but I leave the finer details to those that have more experience calorie counting 🙂
Kam
August 15, 2019 at 6:58 PMJust made this and it was The Bomb! What a great way to use portobellos, other than sautéing in teriyaki sauce. This recipes goes straight into my book of ideas for when I have friends over for lunch. First time on your website but not the last. Easy, terrific recipes that don’t use every pot in the house—what’s not to like? Thanks so much, Farah!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
September 4, 2019 at 10:15 AMYou are very welcome, Kam! I”m a big fan of mushrooms myself so I really enjoyed eating this too. Portobellos are so meaty, it’s my favorite kind of mushroom. Thanks for trying out the recipe and I’m glad it worked out for you!