Many a-great inventions have come about due to a craving, and this ‘Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms With Avocado Shepard’s Pie’ recipe is no exception! I was desperately craving shepard’s pie, but I also had these portobello mushrooms and avocado that were going to go bad if I didn’t use them soon…(Picture a light bulb going off above my head). Why not make shepard’s pie, and instead of layering it in a casserole dish, layer it over the portobellos! For, what are portobellos if they are not just an tasty vessel for our food.
The avocado seamlessly blended with the potato, and it genuinely made me wonder why I had never tried to merge them before. I used a can of condensed cheese soup (another pandemic impulse buy on my part) for the shepard’s pie sauce, and was astonished by how well it worked in this dish. I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, our shepard’s pies always had a lot of cheese sprinkled on top. The condensed cheese soup acted like a melted cheese filler, which in my opinion was way better than the typical chicken broth and worcestershire gravy used in shepard’s pie. It has that creamy texture, without having to add perishable cream or butter.
Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms With Avocado Shepard’s Pie
Ingredients
- 4 large portobello caps
- 5 tsp olive oil, divided
- 3/4 10.5 oz can of condensed cheese soup (I used Campbell's)
- 1 carrot, thin chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 5 potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch cubes (rough cut is fine, i used russet but you can use any potatoes you have!)
- 4 oz cream cheese, room temp if possible
- 1 avocado, skinned and pitted
- 1 pound ground beef
- salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste
Instructions
Preparation for Stuffed Portobellos with Avocado Shepard's Pie
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
- Fill large stock pot with enough water to cover potatoes. Salt the water and bring it to a boil.
- Peel and cut potatoes. Add them to the boiling water and cook until done, about 15 minutes. A fork should easily go through the potato when they are done.
- Prepare portobellos: Drizzle both sides of each mushroom with 1 tsp of olive oil (one tsp per mushroom). Season with salt/pepper and garlic powder.
- Set the mushrooms down on a foil lined baking sheet and place the sheet in the oven for 15 minutes.
- While mushrooms and potatoes are cooking, heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Toss in the ground beef, and cook until 1/2 done, about 3 minutes.
- Add the onions and carrots and cook until onions and meat are fully cooked, about 9 minutes.
- Add pressed garlic to meat mixture and cook about 30 seconds, stirring frequently.
- Now pour 3/4 of a can of condensed cheese soup into the meat mixture. Stir to combine and turn the heat to low. If the portobellos are done with their 15 minutes, take them out of the oven.
- Once portobellos are out of the oven, turn on your broiler and heat oven to 500 degrees.
- Drain the potatoes and put them back in the stock pot. Toss in the avocado and cream cheese and mash using a hand masher until smooth. Taste and season with salt/pepper as needed.
- Now spoon the meat and cheese mixture evenly on top of each portobello. Top with a large heap of avocado mashed potatoes and smooth over the top of the mixture.
- Place portobellos under broiler (4-6 inches away) for 7-10 minutes, until the tops of the avocado mashed potatoes begins to golden. Remove, and serve immediately.
Notes
- I cooked this for just my fiance and myself, so I had left over meat and mashed potatoes. I cooked some pasta (egg noodles) and added the left overs to it. It was great!
- You can also use condensed cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup! Cream of mushroom would give it more of a ‘stroganoff’ feel, which could be awesome!
- Were your mushrooms sitting in too much fluid while baking? Mushrooms retain a lot of fluid, which is why you don’t actually ‘wash’ them before cooking. This ‘Baking Pan and Bakeable Non-Stick Cooling Rack’is PERFECT for cooking mushrooms! They sit on the rack while their moisture drips into the pan.
Did you enjoy my ‘Stuffed Portobello With Avocado Shepard’s Pie’ Recipe?
If so, you might want to check out my ‘Baked Stuffed Frozen Shrimp with Canned Mushrooms’ recipe! I use canned mushrooms in place of scallops and use frozen shrimp to provide a shelf stable/frozen food take on a classic dish. It really is delicious, and you probably have a lot of the ingredients already!
Were your mushrooms sitting in too mush fluid while baking? Mushrooms retain a lot of fluid, which is why you don’t actually ‘wash’ them before cooking. This ‘Baking Pan and Bakeable Non-Stick Cooling Rack’ is PERFECT for cooking mushrooms! You place them on the bakeable cooling rack, and as they release their moisture, it drips down into the pan, preventing your mushrooms from getting soggy! It’s also great for baking!
Baked Stuffed Frozen Shrimp With Canned Mushrooms