Vegan Broiled Mushrooms with Pesto

M

mlp

Guest
12-16 large white button mushrooms, washed and stemmed, stems reserved
6 tablespoons pesto
2 tablespoons finely ground soft white bread crumbs
½ teaspoon lemon juice
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450F. Lightly oil a baking sheet (with a lip) or a pan and set aside.

Cut off and discard the tough tips of the mushroom stems. Finely chop the stems. Add the pesto, bread crumbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and mix.

Dry the mushroom caps with a paper towel and arrange, stem side up, on the cookie sheet. Fill the caps evenly with the pesto mixture. Bake for 5 minutes on the middle rack. Remove from the oven. Place the rack on the highest position and turn the oven to broil. Broil the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes, or until the filling is slightly browned and bubbly. Allow the mushrooms to cool slightly before serving warm.

Note: I make fresh bread crumbs, and use considerably more bread crumbs, and considerably more pesto and lemon juice, than the recipe calls for, because I fill the mushroom caps generously. (Also, the recipe originally called for the use of only half of the mushroom stems, and I used all of them.)

This is vegan as long as you use a vegan pesto sauce. These are also good served over pasta tossed with garlicy olive oil.