My husband’s favorite restaurant is Olive Garden. Unfortunately, the one closest to us is in Wilmington, a 45-minute drive from Jacksonville. But, did you know that you can find great Olive Garden recipes on their web site? You can search by ingredient, course, category, or check out their Featured Recipe.
I love Portobello mushrooms, so this recipe is one of my favorites! For this recipe, you will need four large Portobello mushrooms, 1 pound of Italian sausage, fresh Italian parsley, fresh basil, a clove of garlic, garlic croutons, milk, parmesan cheese, eggs, and heavy cream.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Brown the Italian sausage in a skillet, making sure it is broken up into small pieces. When it is done, drain the oil off and place the sausage on a paper towel. In a medium bowl, beat two eggs with 1/4 cup of milk. Then add 1 teaspoon of freshly chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon of freshly chopped basil, 1 chopped garlic clove, 1 cup of ground garlic croutons, and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and mix well. Add in the sausage to the egg mixture and blend well. Top each mushroom with some of the sausage mixture and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
While the mushrooms are cooking, you can make your sauce to go on top. In a saucepan, pour one pint of heavy cream. Allow it to lightly boil until it has reduced by half, but watch it carefully to avoid scorching. After it has reduced, add 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir again.
When the mushrooms have cooled a bit, top each one with 2 ounces of sauce. Garnish with fresh Italian parsley or fresh basil.