Photography by Jessica Leibowitz

These stuffed mushrooms are a giant version of a recipe my Mom used to make as a side dish. She would use plain old cultivated mushrooms which were considered very elegant at the time and stuff them simply with chopped mushrooms, onions and breadcrumbs. I started with three of my mom’s ingredients for the stuffing–onion, mushroom and bread- and then added some green beans, pesto and cheese. You can use store-bought pesto if you want to speed up the process but this is a pretty quick recipe anyway.

Makes 6 servings
Hands-on time: 35 minutes if making Parsley Pesto,
17 minutes if using store bought pesto
Total preparation time: 47 minutes if making Parsley Pesto,
30 minutes if using store bought pesto

Parsley Pesto (recipe below) or 1 cup store-bought pesto
1 small onion
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound green beans
6 portobello mushrooms (4- to 5-ounces each)
1 plain English muffin, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 slices Muenster cheese (about 6 ounces)

Make the Parsley Pesto, if using.

Finely chop the onion (about ½ cup) Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over high heat until hot; reduce the heat to medium, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until softened.

While the onion is cooking, slice the green beans into ½-inch pieces. Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Slice off and discard a thin slice from the root end and medium chop the rest of each stem. Scrape out and discard the gills from the underside of the mushroom caps using a spoon.

Add the chopped mushroom stems and green beans to the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes or until both are just tender. Finely chop the English muffin. Remove the bean mixture to a medium bowl; stir in the pesto, English muffin, and salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same skillet until hot. Reduce the heat to medium and add the mushroom caps, open side down. Cook, covered 5 minutes. Turn caps over and divide bean mixture into them. Cook covered 5 minutes. Add cheese, remove from heat, and set aside 2 minutes or just until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Parsley Pesto

Combine 3 cups packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, ½ cup walnuts, 1 ounce coarsely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 1/3 cup) and 2 garlic cloves, sliced, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Process until finely chopped. With the processor running, gradually drizzle in 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.