Portobello Mushroom Vegetarian Pizzas
This is a great recipe for a lighter meal, lunch or dinner, or even appetizers. It’s low carb, gluten free and keto friendly. The veggies are interchangeable and, if you want to throw a bit of pepperoni on there, that works too!
There are many versions of Portobello “pizzas", but with this one I make a quick fresh tomato sauce rather than canned pizza sauce. My inspiration for this actually came from Eating Well, a great place for healthy light recipes. The woodiness of the Portobello’s makes these rich with flavor and the veggies only enhance them.
These are more of Mediterranean style with the artichoke hearts and feta cheese. Olives could be added as well as chopped spinach. But these are pretty small, so too many ingredients may just overwhelm the mushroom caps.
Brush with olive oil
Pre-cooking the mushrooms wicks out some moisture and softens them up ahead of the pizza prep.
Fresh “pizza” sauce is super easy to make and is ready in no time. There are a lot of variations that include seeding the tomatoes and adding other herbs. We found that a simple tomato, salt, touch of pepper and oregano works perfectly. Add a bit of sugar, if desired to cut back the acidity and balance the flavor.
Now the fun begins as you start to pull it all together.
Once the sauce is on the mushroom caps, add the cheese. Then the toppings of your choosing.
All ready for the oven
Finish off with feta cheese and basil. Sprinkle with a bit of Italian seasoning. Then pop in the oven for 15 minutes while making the arugula salad for the side.
Simple light meal. This also would be great for a group lunch or even brunch. (oh, and we did add a bit of crispy bacon at the end!)
Portobello Mushroom Vegetarian Pizzas with Arugula Salad
Ingredients
- 6 large Portobello mushroom caps, gills removed
- Olive oil
- Fresh pizza sauce (recipe follows) or 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 14 oz. can Artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- 1/2 cup Sundried tomatoes
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup feta cheese
- 1/4 basil, chopped
- Italian seasoning for topping
- Arugula salad (recipe follows)
- 6 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoons oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar (if desired)
- 4 cups lightly packed arugula
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Prep mushrooms by brushing both sides with olive oil. Place in preheated oven, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cap side down. Roast for 10 minutes. Flip over and roast for 5 more minutes.
- Next assemble the pizzas. Start by spooning 2 tablespoons of sauce in each cap. Add equal amount of mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, and basil.
- Top with feta cheese and then sprinkle Italian seasoning on top.
- Return to the oven and roast for 10-15 more minutes.
- Serve with the arugula salad on the side. Enjoy!
- Place chopped tomatoes, oregano and salt in sauce pan.
- Cook over medium heat mashing the tomatoes with a fork. Add a bit of sugar if desired to, cut back on any bitterness of the tomato.
- Once the tomatoes are softened and reduced to saucy chucks, remove from heat.
- Use on Portobello mushrooms or any type of homemade pizza
- Toss arugula, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a bowl until incorporated. Serve on the side with Portobello pizzas.
