Stacked Portabella Caps with Arugula Microgreen Pesto

You do not need to be a vegetarian to enjoy this entrée! As tasty as it is colorful, this cap packs in the layers of veggies for great flavor! You just may want to double that pesto recipe….

Quality is key! A beautiful part of this dish is pure simplicity of flavors. While there is a little effort involved in the layering process, you are using the vegetables in their basic form, really highlighting those fresh flavors. While wonderful garden fresh vegetables aren’t always available, if possible, I would strongly encourage picking an heirloom variety of tomato if available. This rich, juicy flavor plays a key role here to give moisture to the other layers, and replace any tomato sauce that may otherwise be used. Even better, if you have extra tomatoes, enjoy a fresh bruschetta with the remaining pesto!! (I had my leftover tomato slices and pesto with a few fried eggs the next morning-talk about an impressive breakfast!)

Knowing your greens! Arugula is an interesting green to work with-it seems that many love or hate this as it has quite a strong flavor. I’ll admit, I’m fairly new to the love camp and have timidly tried to incorporate arugula into more of my dishes only in the recent past. Pesto is a great condiment because of how versatile it can be. If you have any other greens around-spinach, kale, dandelion greens, or just more basil, by all means, throw them in instead or in addition to tame the flavor! But I like the subtle addition the arugula brings to the veggies here, and instead of a traditional pine nut, as many pesto sauces will use, I swapped in walnuts to give a bit more earthy flavor, which worked really well with the arugula! Even if you are hesitant, I’d vote to give this one a try-worst case, throw it back in the food processor with more basil to tame it down. Can’t go wrong!

Are you a pesto lover? There are so many great ways to use garden greens in these easy condiments-check out some other creative ideas:

Carrot Green Chimichurri

Kale Pesto

Minted Pea Puree

Asparagus Walnut Pesto

Blackened Pork Loin with Dandelion Green Chimichurri

Baked Salmon over Roasted Zucchini with a Lemon Spinach Puree

Summer is here and we are in full swing of trying out those fresh seasonal produce items! If you haven’t been following along, check out some of the market tours and recipes discovered throughout the season on the blog!

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Enjoy!

Stacked Portabella Caps with Arugula Microgreen Pesto

Hannah

Whether making for an entrée or a side dish to…anything, these portabella caps are as tasty as they are colorful!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine French, Italian, Mediterranean

Servings 4

Equipment

• Food Processor
• Baking Pan
• Mixing bowl
• Sharp Kitchen Knife
• Toothpicks
• Tin Foil

Ingredients

  

Pesto

• 3 handfuls Arugula Microgreens About 4 cups
• 1 cup Fresh Basil Leaves
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/3 cup Walnuts
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and Pepper

Mushroom Caps

• 4 large Portabella Caps save insides!
• 1 medium Eggplant
• 1 large Heirloom Tomato
• 1 large Zucchini
• 1 large Yellow Squash
• 1 ball Fresh Mozzerella about softball size
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

 

Pesto

• Taking your food processor and add in microgreens, basil, garlic, olive oil, and walnuts, and parmesan. Puree until smooth. Likely, you will need to do this in batches to get all smooth. Add each batch to the mixing bowl and adjust salt to taste. Preference on portions of arugula or basil if you prefer a stronger basil flavor. Set aside.

Portabella Caps

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Taking a spoon, carefully scrape out the inside of the mushroom caps, reserving the insides for another recipe. Rinse and lay the caps in your baking dish.
• Slice the eggplant, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and mozzarella into slices. If some of your vegetables are thinner than the mushroom, either use two slices per layer or make a very diagonal cut to get a larger circumference.
• Take a spoon and place a dollop of pesto in each cap, spreading to cover the entire base of the mushroom. Layer vegetables, cheese and pesto as you'd like, similar to a lasagna. Be generous with the pesto!
• Drizzle a little oil and salt over the final layer and place a final piece of mozzarella on top.
• Place a toothpick through each layer, preferably on the side to not ruin presentation.
• Place tinfoil over the baking dish. The toothpicks should act to both keep the layers together as well as hold the tinfoil above the cheese so it does not stick.
• Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove the tinfoil and bake an additional 5-10 until the cheese is lightly browned.
• Remove and serve over a layer of the pesto. Garnish with a few remaining arugula microgreens. Enjoy!

Keyword Arugula, eggplant, Fresh, Healthy, Keto, Low-carb, Microgreens, Pesto, vegetarian, zucchini