Baked Portobello Mushroom

Looks funny? Looks weird? Looks inedible? Yea, I know, I know, it looks like it's something that comes from the outer space, but of course, it is not from the outer space; and trust me, it tastes way much better than it looks. I think I need to work on the appearance more in the future; nevertheless, this “thing” tastes pretty darn good, so good that I want to make it again.

This baked mushroom recipe is very simple and very versatile. I sautéed the bacon and onion together, transfer the bacon and onion onto the mushroom cap, top with some cheddar cheese and baked it for just 10 minutes. The smokiness of the bacon, the subtle onion flavour, the saltiness of the cheese and the chewiness of the mushroom – it was a perfect harmony of all the ingredients. I used Portobello mushroom for this recipe. It gives a very distinctive flavour that other mushrooms don’t really offer, but of course, one can always use any fresh large field mushrooms that you can find. Instead of using bacon and onion like me, one can use other ingredients like shredded chicken, sliced ham, or even thinly sliced avocado. I intend to use mini Portobello mushrooms in the future and serve them as appetiser. Just thinking about it is making me drool… Yum!

Baked Portobello Mushroom (serves 1)

1) This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled… (you get what I mean… right?) And the mushroom can be substituted with any large field mushroom.

2) Even though supermarkets mushrooms are supposedly pesticide free, I have the habit of rinsing them in water, thus my mushrooms will come out a little bit more watery than normal (because they absorb water when you rinse them, see the photo at the bottom). The actual way to clean mushrooms is to just clean them with a damp cloth.

3) Be creative! You can use shredded chicken, ham, sliced avocado or anything you like! Let me know what combinations work for you! (:

1 piece fresh large Portobello Mushroom
1 strip streaky bacon, cut into small squares
⅛ onion, finely diced
½ slice cheddar cheese, cut into thin strips
Olive oil
Black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil for easy cleaning later on. Drizzle some olive oil on top of the aluminium foil. Clean the mushroom and remove the stems. Dry it thoroughly with kitchen paper/towel and place it on top of the greased foil.

Heat a frying pan and add the bacon (don’t add any oil!) and sautéed it until the bacon has released some of its fats. If it is too dry, add in a little bit of olive oil. A little goes a long way, so don’t add too much!

When the bacon is almost golden brown in colour, add in the onion and continue to sautéed until the onion has softened and the bacon is golden brown in colour. Season with black pepper and remove from heat.

Transfer the bacon mixture onto the mushroom. Top the mushroom with the cheddar strips and bake for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the mushroom is soft.

Serve and enjoy!