Portobello mushrooms stuffed with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes

I've been gone so long, it's doubtful I have any followers left at all, but just in case......   I've come to share the promised recipe for stuffed mushrooms.  But before I share the recipe, I must make my excuses!  Firstly, I just returned a few days ago from a trip to Haiti, where I went for days and days without an Internet connection making it impossible for me to blog!  You can read about my visit to a Haitian kitchen by clicking this link.  Secondly, shortly before leaving on my trip, I began writing articles for an online magazine called Examiner.com.  My articles are food focused (surprise! surprise!) with a local connection.  If you are interested, you can read my articles by clicking this link.

Now, back to the mushrooms.  I found this recipe in a book called Crescent City Collection.   It's a fabulous cookbook that I purchased in New Orleans when Eddy and I where there celebrating our 20th anniversary.  If you can get your hands on this cookbook, I recommend you purchase it!  So far, everything I have tried from its pages has turned out delicious!  These mushrooms are very easy to make and always bring me compliments when I serve them to guests.

Here is my edited version of the recipe for spinach-stuffed mushrooms:

Ingredients:

1 recipe Red Wine Vinaigrette (see below)

6 large portobello mushroom caps

Olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

a squeeze of lemon juice

3 tightly packed cups of spinach,

8 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, drained and and chopped

hot sauce to taste (I prefer a habanero sauce over Tabasco)

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

1.  Marinate the mushroom caps in the vinaigrette for several hours

2.  Heat a swirl of olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and saute until tender.

3.  Add the lemon juice, spinach, and tomatoes and continue to saute until the spinach wilts.  Season with s&p and hot sauce.

4.  Remove the mushrooms from the marinade and broil (or grill) for about 6 minutes per side.  Let cool.

5.  Place the mushroom caps on a baking sheet and sprinkle half the Parmesan over the insides.  Mound the spinach mixture equally into each cap.  Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.  (the recipe can be made ahead to this point.)

6.  Just before serving, broil the stuffed mushrooms until cheese is golden (about 5 minutes).

For the Red Wine Vinaigrette

Combine and whisk until well mixed:

2 T red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

3 t Dijon mustard

1/2 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1 t chopped chives