Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Portabello sandwiches

This is how the lettuce and mushrooms from the weekend market trip ended up.

portabello sandwich

Portabello sandwiches are remarkably easy and pretty darn tasty, too. And it may be my imagination--though Adam agrees, so maybe not--but lettuce from the farmers market is way better than lettuce from the grocery, so much more tender.

portabello sandwich

Portobello Sandwiches

2 large portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
4 or 5 leaves fresh basil, roughly chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk together oil, vinegar, herbs, salt, and pepper. (Of course, you can use fresh herbs for all the dried, but basil was the only fresh herb I had on hand.) I like to let this mixture sit for a while--somewhere between a half hour and over night--to let the flavors blend, but I don't know if that really makes a difference.

Clean and cut the stems off the mushrooms. Slice into strips 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide.

Put mushroom strips in a plastic zip bag or a small container and pour the marinade over them. Turn and shake bag or container to cover mushrooms. Let sit for an hour or two, turning and shaking bag at least once to make sure mushrooms get evenly marinated.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place mushroom strips in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, flipping strips over halfway through time.

Toast some sturdy bread and slather it with Miracle Whip (if you're me) or mustard (if you're Adam). Add the mushrooms, some tomato slices and maybe a little lettuce. And messily devour.

1 comment:

annette ooyevaar said...

I finally made these wonderful sandwiches yesterday, after a ridiculous delay from the time when I intended to make them. Sarah - they were so delicious, I put a glob of chevre into my hot ciabatta roll, crammed in as many portobello slices as I could, and munched with delight. Something surprising and exciting happened to a few of the fresh basil slices. I put the mushrooms in the hot oven on an overturned cast iron pot lid (I had run out of pots and pans) and a few of the oil slicked basil leaves got left out of the group and were drifting off to the side. Well when the mushrooms came out of the oven, the basil leaves that had refused to be a part of the group had turned into basil chips, thin little crispy bites, which were a fantastic contrast to the mushrooms. Thank you for this inspiring recipe, it is definitely a part of my cooking repertoire now.