By guest blogger Stephanie Maris

I don’t know about you, but my favorite steakhouse appetizers invariably feature some version of stuffed mushrooms. Stuffed mushrooms, if you haven’t tried them, are rather unassuming vegetables that have been breaded, coated in cheese and fried in oil.

One night, while hankering for a forbidden bite of bready goodness, I came up with a recipe that delivers the same crunchy, cheesy flavour at a fraction of the fat.

These Portobello mushroom caps are best served with a chunky marinara sauce, but they’d also be delicious with pesto or a garlic aioli. Two large mushroom caps are the perfect appetizer to split with a friend, or just enough for a light meal to enjoy on your own.

Baked Portobello Fries

Ingredients

• 2 large Portobello mushroom caps, washed, dried and sliced into ¾” strips.
• 2 slices of stale bread. If you don’t have this at hand, just toast two slices of fresh bread. Store-bought breadcrumbs also work
• 1 large egg
• ¼-½ cup Parmesan cheese
• Parsley to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Combine stale bread, parsley and Parmesan cheese in a food processor. Crush until everything is broken down into even crumbs.
3. Place crumbs in bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, crack and whisk your egg.
5. Dip mushrooms caps into the egg until evenly coated.
6. Dip mushrooms caps into crumb mixture, then place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes.

Photo by Stephanie Maris