Spice Garl Mushrooms

The first time I tried stuffed mushrooms were filled with garlic butter. It was on the menu of the restaurant I was working at, as it’s a traditional French dish. French love butter but we know that it’s not on the healthy side unfortunately, so I am cutting it out of my meals as much as possible.

And here comes an alternative option. We created an almond butter, the Spice Garl and its main component is garlic. Bingo! So I filled the mushrooms with a half teaspoon of Spice Garl almond butter, and it came out juicy, flavourful, and definitely one my new favourite.  

Served with fragrant roasted aubergine and fresh salad it makes a full meal, not leaving you hungry at all. 

Make your own home-made pesto using fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, parmesan and some pine nuts if you have.

Serves 2 people.

Ingredients: 

12 mushrooms – I recommend chestnut mushrooms for an earthy taste

6 tsp Spice Garl nut butter

Grated mozzarella or vegan cheese

1 aubergine

Sea salt

60 g wild rocket

2 tbsp quinoa

Handful of pine nuts

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp pesto – store bought or homemade

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and boil a bit of water in a small pot to cook the quinoa.

Add the quinoa to the boiling water, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Check the water level sometimes, top up if needed as quinoa absorbs quite a lot of water.

Chop the aubergine into small pieces, place them on a baking tray, sprinkle some olive oil and sea salt all over, and roast for about 15-20 minutes.  Use baking paper to make sure they don’t stick to the tray.

Now we can clean the mushrooms: remove the stalks and wash the caps thoroughly until there is no dirt left on them. 

Take a pan, pour a little bit of oil in, and fry the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes each side. When the mushrooms are ready let them cool for a bit so they don't burn your hands, then fill each mushroom cup with half teaspoon of Spice Garl nut butter. Put some grated cheese on the top and roast them in the oven for 5 minutes until the cheese gets melted. 

While the cheese is melting on the mushrooms, toss a handful of pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat and roast until golden. Make sure you are moving the pan continuously, otherwise the small pine nuts can get burnt.

When all ingredients are cooked, mix the aubergine with the rocket, the quinoa, and the pine nuts, mix in a few drops of pesto and plate as a side next to the mushrooms.

Hope you enjoy!