These chickpea spinach stuffed mushrooms are topped with a piece of creamy tangy goat cheese and crispy onion breadcrumbs. A quick dish packed with textures and flavours, which makes a lovely light lunch, dinner or a snack for a gathering.
I love mushrooms. I am a huge fan of stuffed mushrooms. Wink. You can use portobello mushrooms, baby portobello, cremini or button mushrooms. This time I stuffed the medium-sized portobellos with chickpeas, spinach and some tomato. A simple stuffing, that can be made in 10 minutes. In fact, the whole dish is super easy and quick to prepare. Therefore, it is a wonderful idea for lunch or dinner. Also, you can serve it as a side dish or, when using the cremini mushrooms, as an appetizer, too.
Here are some of my favourite mushroom recipes: honey figs cheese stuffed mushrooms, a simple soy mushrooms Napa cabbage, a delicious penny bun barley or this egg stuffed portobello mushroom.
Mushrooms are wonderful. They have meaty flesh, an earthy and nutty taste and, at the same time, they are packed with health benefits for your skin, brain and bones, too. For instance, they contain two very potent antioxidants: selenium and ergothioneine. Say goodbye to wrinkles. Wink. Also, they are rich in vitamins B and D, copper and fibre.
Toppings: cheese and breadcrumbs
Besides the delicious chickpea and spinach stuffing, I decided on two wonderful toppings, too. Firstly, the creamy goat cheese and secondly the tasty onion breadcrumbs.
Young, creamy goat cheese is just perfect for this recipe. More, its soft and creamy texture, surrounded with a thin bloomy rind, makes a lovely combination with stuffed mushrooms and the crispy topping. Also, goat-milk cheese is a good source of protein, calcium and healthy fats. And, compared to cow-milk cheese, it is packed with way more vitamins and minerals. Since goat cheese might not be many people’s first choice, because of its tangy flavour, you can pick any other cheese of your choice. Wink.
The last highlight, the breadcrumb topping, is very easy to make. In fact, you’ll need a couple of basic ingredients, which you, most probably, already have in your kitchen. All you need are breadcrumbs, butter and some salt. In order to make them a bit different, simply add some chopped onion. Simply delicious! And the good thing is, you can make a double batch and then store it in a glass jar for 4-5 days. These onion breadcrumbs taste wonderful on pasta, meat, salad or fish.
Ingredients for three chickpea spinach stuffed mushrooms:
- 3 medium portobello mushrooms
- 1 red onion (half for stuffing, half for crumbs)
- 2 Tbsp of breadcrumbs
- salt
- 15 g butter
- 3 Tbsp of chickpeas (canned, drained)
- 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
- 1 Tbsp of tomato paste
- 100 ml white wine
- 3 rounds of goat cheese
- spinach pesto (optional)
To begin, preheat the oven to 180° C. Peel the onion and halve it. Clean the portobello mushrooms and trim off the stems. Save them for later use on another recipe. Place the mushrooms into a baking dish (stem side up), sprinkle with some salt and put in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven and put aside.
Then, in a larger pan, prepare the stuffing. Drizzle some olive oil in the pan, chop one half of the onion and stir it in. Cook until glossy. At this point, stir in the drained chickpeas and tomato paste. Cook for a couple of minutes and then pour in the wine.
Once the wine is half evaporated, add the spinach, cover with the lid and cook until wilted.
To make the crumble topping, finely chop one half of the onion. In a smaller frying pan, melt the butter and stir in the onion. After it turns translucent, add the breadcrumbs and season with sea salt. Cook for a couple more minutes until the breadcrumbs turn golden brown. Set aside.
Afterwards, take the baking dish with Portobello mushrooms and stuff each one with the chickpea spinach stuffing. Place a piece of goat cheese on top of each mushroom, add the crumbles and put them back in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes.
Finally, arrange the remaining stuffing onto the plate and place the chickpea spinach stuffed mushrooms on it. To add some extra crunch, sprinkle with the remaining crumbles. Garnish with some spinach pesto.
Enjoy.
