Try it, You'll Like It

So, yesterday was Earth Day.  The day before I knew that I wanted to make something vegetarian for dinner, but I hadn't a clue.  Until, an idea was brought to my attention by a co-worker. She recently had a Portabello Mushroom Wellington at a friends home this past Easter.  I searched on line for a recipe and found one, which I had shared yesterday on my Facebook book page.  When I told my kids that I wanted to make something vegetarian for dinner on Earth Day, my son was like, "that can't be good".  Well, as it turned out everyones schedule was a little screwy yesterday, so I made it for my husband and I. What's funny is that my husband wasn't all too sure about what I was making for dinner.  He was watching me as I started to make some of the components and the look on his face showed that he wasn't all too happy.  He didn't say a word though.  No funny remark about what was for dinner and not one whine.
I didn't follow the instructions exactly.  I used the recipe as inspiration and did it a little differently, and I am happy with the results, even though I had a minor stumble along the way. I didn't cut the dough large enough for the portabello mushroom, so I used the scraps and patched it together.  But, it worked.  It looks a little rustic, but that is totally OK.  As I was making this I realized that you could make part of this ahead of time and just assemble and bake it when you are ready to eat it.  My husband really loved it.  He said it had a lot of flavor. I hope you try this, because you may be surprised that you like it!   M:)

Portabello Mushroom Wellington (Inspired by recipe from Delicieux)

2 large portabello mushrooms, stalks trimmed and gills scraped cleaned
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Large bunch fresh spinach, washed, stems removed
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
8 sprigs of thyme
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry or pre-made pie crust dough
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
Cooking spray

Saute onions in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat until translucent and slightly golden in color, about 8 to10 minutes, then add minced garlic and cook for another few minutes, seasoning with salt and fresh ground pepper.  Remove from pan and set aside (Can be made ahead of time and refrigerate.)
Next, using the same pan, saute spinach until all has wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes, season with salt.  Remove from pan, drain, and set aside (Can be made ahead of time and refrigerate.)
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same pan and cook mushroom caps for a few minutes on each side, until the mushroom collapses and releases some of its juices.  Remove from pan, drain, and set aside. (Can be made ahead of time and refrigerate.)
Unroll puff pastry or pie crust dough on a floured surface.  Cut four circles slightly larger than the size of your mushroom caps. You want to have enough dough to be able to fold the edges together when assembling.  Spray a rimmed cooking sheet with cooking spray.  Set one round of dough down on sheet.  Top with mushroom, top side down, then add some spinach, some thyme leaves, then onion mixture.  NOTE: It is important that the mushrooms and spinach are not too liquidy, otherwise your wellington will be soggy. Top with another dough round.  Pinch or roll the two pieces of dough together.  It doesn't have to look perfect, but it should be sealed.  Brush with egg, sprinkle with salt, top with more thyme, and brush a little more egg to secure the thyme to the dough. Make a couple of small slits in the top.  Make the next mushroom.  Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.

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