This meal brought to you by Trader Joe’s.
I have to admit. I love me some Trader Joe’s. Just one trip over to one of my favorite grocery shopping places (there’s still room in my heart for Whole Foods and Earth Fare) and I’m feeling mighty creative.
…which is where this meal came in.
I marinated some portabellas in Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar.
I chopped some fresh basil.
I sliced and sauteed some TJ’s sundried tomato and basil chicken sausage.
I roasted two sweet red Italian peppers.
And suddenly I had this.
Well, more or less.
Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauce over Macaroni (whew! that’s a mouthful…serves 2)
For mushrooms:
2 large Portabella mushroom caps, cleaned and stems removed
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 TJ’s sundried tomato and basil chicken sausage links, sliced
1/4 cup basil, chopped finely
1/4 cup marinara sauce
1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
Marinate mushrooms in Worcestershire sauce and vinegar for 15 minutes. Saute or grill mushroom on both sides until browned on medium high heat. Meanwhile, saute sausage in a pan with olive oil. Place sausage in a bowl with marinara and basil and stir.
For pasta:
1 cup macaroni (or pasta of choice)
2 sweet red Italian peppers
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 large clove of garlic (~1 Tbsp.)
1/4 tsp. sea salt + dash of salt
1 oz. feta cheese
Bring macaroni to a boil in a pot of water with a dash of salt. Lower heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 8-10 minutes. Roast peppers in an oven on the broil setting on 500 degrees F for 10 minutes on each side (20 minutes total). Remove, cut, and remove stems and seeds. Place peppers in blender with yogurt, 1/4 tsp. sea salt, and garlic. Pulse until mixture is smooth. Heat in a small sauce pan or in a microwave proof dish.
Plate 1/2 of the macaroni on each dish. Spoon over the pasta about 1/4 cup of red pepper sauce. Top each with a portabella. Use a spoon to stuff mushrooms with sausage mixture, piling high if necessary into each mushroom. Sprinkle with 1/2 oz. of feta cheese and garnish with a basil leaf.
In reality, I added two large cloves of garlic to the red pepper sauce and Brad and I felt like we were breathing garlic all night. Delicious, but proceed at your own risk.
I loved everything about this meal.
Brad did too. In fact, this was the second meal he was referring to when he said that “the past two meals I made were like fine dining restaurant fare“.
If only I had a real restaurant…sigh.