I’ve been afraid of cooking with hummus ever since I had a hummus pizza while on vacation in Colorado last year. The idea sounded good–pizza crust slathered with hummus, topped with kalamata olives–but in actual execution it tasted dry and bland. Perhaps that was the restaurant’s fault because I’ve come around to the idea of hot hummus since making these mushrooms.
I think it was seeing the Tempeh Bacon-Wrapped Portobello with Baba Ghanoush at Albion Cooks that got me thinking about hummus-stuffed mushrooms. Actually, every time Catherine posts one of her many creatively-stuffed mushroom recipes, I find myself picking up stuffing-sized portabellas the next time I’m in the grocery store. My stuffings are never as fancy as hers. The fanciest I’ve gotten was filling them with Pesto Mashed Potatoes, which was delicious, but hardly beautiful.
This time I opted for a simple filling, something I was making anyway. I make hummus an average of once a week, in an industrial-sized batch that I use in sandwiches, on salads, and with crackers, cruditées, and sometimes just my fingers (but only when I’m trying to get the last bit out of the bowl, I swear!) A few days ago, when I made Gazpacho with Roasted Tomatoes and Peppers, I tossed an extra red bell pepper into the oven to roast, so when I made this week’s hummus, I added the roasted pepper to it.
Portabellas Stuffed with Red Pepper Hummus
This isn’t a recipe so much as a set of guidelines that you can follow to stuff portabellas with any pre-cooked filling.
- Prepare your filling. Allow about 2-3 tablespoons of filling per mushroom. (These are not the large portabellas but the ones that are about 2 inches wide and come 6 to a pack.) I basically followed my Spicy Red Pepper Hummus recipe but left out the harissa so that it wouldn’t be spicy. I used about 1 cup of hummus for 6 mushrooms.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Clean the portabellas and remove the stem and any fluffy flesh that surrounds it.
- Line a baking dish with parchment paper or spray with a little olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt on the inside of each mushroom (optional, but does add flavor). Fill them with the stuffing, heaping it high in the middle, and set them in the baking dish. Spray the tops with a little olive oil, if you wish, to help prevent them from drying out.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Serve hot, sprinkled with a little smoked Spanish paprika, if desired.
If you prefer your hummus cold, you may cook the portabellas without the filling and fill them with it when they are done. Simply follow the cooking directions above, placing them in the baking dish with the cavity side down.
Enjoy these as an appetizer, side dish, or as I did, as a light snack. Delicious!
Anonymous
January 18, 2010 at 12:14 amA quick, tasty breakfast idea: Spread hummus on a piece of multi-grain toast and heat a minute or so longer under the broiler. Top this with one fried egg and eat it as an open-faced sandwich.
Melissa Post
November 7, 2011 at 4:15 pmThis is absolutely delicious. My carnivore hubby even liked it alot!!
Wendy
August 7, 2012 at 4:56 pmThis looks (and sounds) wonderful. I am making hummus this week, so I’ll definitely give this a try. Thanks for all your great recipes. LOVE your site!
Rob Beland
August 7, 2012 at 6:48 pmHave you ever noticed when making homemade hummus that it leaves a metallic taste in your mouth? I made some yesterday and today for lunch I had a hummus sandwich and have had a metallic tasted in my mouth all day. Very weird…
Kylie
August 7, 2012 at 8:26 pmI pinned this! Since going vegan, we have been looking for a stuffed mushroom recipe that we would enjoy. We don’t have them often, but they are a great treat as an appetizer. We used to do cream cheese stuffed, so we definitely need something new. I bet I would really like warm hummus!