Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Portobellos

I have spent my last 8 years in Wyoming, and have probably only met a handful of people who eat vegetarian, and maybe a few extra that are willing to eat a vegetarian meal even though they aren't vegetarian.  I have recently been trying to convince my husband that we can eat vegetarian more than once every six months.  However, it takes something pretty amazing sounding to convince him to have a go at it.

I found these on Annie's Eats and figured it was a perfect trial meal for a vegetarian meal.  We both love Spinach and Artichoke dip, so what is there stopping us from loving it stuffed in portobellos...absolutely nothing.

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Portobellos
slightly adapted from Annie's Eats
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced, divided
4-5 medium-large portabello mushrooms, wiped clean and stems removed
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1½ teaspoons dried Italian Seasoning
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 small jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
½ cup coarse Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup finely grated Asiago cheese

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 450˚ F.
2) In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with two thirds of the minced garlic.
3) Scrape the gills from the inside of the mushroom caps.  Set the mushroom caps on a baking pan, gill side up, and brush lightly with the garlic-oil mixture.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bake for 10 minutes.
4) Meanwhile, mix the filling.  Combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, remaining garlic, ½ teaspoon of the Italian Seasoning, and the spinach in a medium bowl.  Stir together until evenly blended.  Gently stir in the artichokes.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon the filling mixture over the roasted mushroom caps.
5) In another small bowl, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, Asiago and remaining 1 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning.  Stir with a fork to blend.  Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the filling mixture on each mushroom.  Bake for 10 more minutes or until golden and warmed through.  Serve immediately.

The caps cooking in the oven let off this amazing smell.  It was so hard not to eat just the caps without the filling.  I thought the taste was great, and honestly was exactly what I was expecting it to taste like.  I loved the textures together and the portobello was a great vehicle to maneuver the filling into your mouth.  I will definitely make this dish again for another vegetarian night.

My husband liked the meal, but wasn't really sold on the mushroom texture after it was roasted in the oven.  I think it is just because it was one of the first times that we've eaten them as the main dish, so I'm going to try again and see if his feelings change.