baked mushrooms with ricotta and pesto
Here’s a nice, easy starter or indeed a light lunch, for you to try. And very simple too. I used 4 large field mushrooms but it works really well with small chestnut mushrooms. I really like mushrooms and this is an incredibly easy recipe to do. The reason why I decided to try it was that I had a bit of home made pesto left over. All you have to do is mix it with ricotta a bit of extra garlic, if you wish, some grated parmesan and presto! It’s done! The recipe comes, once again, from the BBC good food magazine. Don’t be put off by the not so very appealing picture. The taste is what you have to focus on, which is lovely. Ok, I know you can’t taste the photo but you have to trust me on this one. 
INGREDIENTS
- 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 16 medium chestnut mushrooms (or 4 large ones)
- 250g tub ricotta
- 2 tbsp green pesto
- 1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (optional)
- 25g freshly grated parmesan (or vegetarian alternative)
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, preferably flatleaf, to serve
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Choose an ovenproof dish big enough to take all the mushrooms in one layer and generously brush it with 1 tbsp of the oil.
- Trim the mushroom stalks level with their caps, if you need to, then put the mushrooms, rounded cap side down, in the dish. Mix the ricotta, pesto and garlic and spoon into the mushrooms (there’s enough to pile it up quite high). Sprinkle over the Parmesan and drizzle over the rest of the oil.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft all the way through and the cheese is just starting to turn golden. If this doesn’t happen, put the dish under a preheated grill for a few minutes. If the mushrooms have given off a lot of juice after baking, you can drain some of it off.
- To serve, scatter with the parsley. Serve hot or at room temperature.
0 Responses to “Baked mushrooms with ricotta and pesto”