Spinach-Gorgonzola Burgers on Portobello Buns
Italy’s Famous Blue Cheese Sandwiched between Mushroom Caps
Sep 26, 2009
Perfect as a starter or, cut in quarters, for cocktail party nibbles, this recipe for Portobello bundles take stuffed mushrooms to a new blue height.
Any assertive blue-veined cheese could be used. See here for a comparison of 11 French blues and here for three more surprising non-French blue cheeses that could be substituted for Gorgonzola in this recipe.
Grilled Spinach & Gorgonzola Burgers on Portobello Buns
Ingredients:
- 8 large Portobello mushrooms (pick pairs whose sizes match)
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves stripped from the stalk, or 2/3 tsp dried
- ½ pound fresh spinach, washed and thoroughly dried
- 4 ounces Mountain Gorgonzola
Method:
- Light the barbecue. (See “Variation” for an oven version.)
- Cut off the mushroom stems. Finely chop the stems and set aside.
- Wipe the smooth side of the mushroom caps with a damp cloth. With a sharp knife, make a few shallow criss-cross scores in the surface.
- In a sauté pan over medium flame, melt butter and mix in the oil. One at a time, add mushroom caps to the pan, turn once and remove to a plate. The idea at this stage is just to coat the caps, not cook them yet.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook until wilted and transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped mushroom stems, garlic and thyme and sautée for just a minute longer. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted.
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool a bit. Mound a fourth of the spinach mixture on each for four mushroom caps. Spread the mixture level and top with a fourth of the Gorgonzola.
- Top each stack with a second mushroom cap and, using kitchen string, tie each bundle as you might a package.
- Cook the mushroom bundles over the coolest part of the coals (or with the gas on low), turning several times, until the mushrooms are just tender, about 6-8 minutes total. Serve hot.
Variation: The bundles may also be cooked indoors in a medium oven (350° F. 180° C.) until the mushrooms are tender.
This recipe is adapted from Waitrose’s Autumn Seasons Cookbook, available fro Waitrose markets throughout the United Kingdom.
About Gorgonzola
Originally called both stracchino de Gorgonzola and stracchino erbinato (for the green veining that resembles parsley), the origins of Italy’s famous blue-veined cheese go back long before there was a united Italy, back at least to the 9th to 11th century in the Lombardy and Piedmont regions of modern Italy.
Made from the surplus milk of “stracca” cows, worn out from the trek back from summer pastures in the mountains, the cheese was stored in cool caves. Other residents of the caves, Penicillum Glaucum and other moulds, welcomed the cheese as an amenable medium for growth.
One version of Gorgonzola’s origin says an innkeeper went to retrieve some cheese for a group staying at the inn, he found a bluish-green mould forming on it. One may speculate that he either had no other cheese to serve, or didn’t want to suffer the loss, so he risked serving it to his guests (with a straight face, one imagines). Imagine the innkeeper’s surprise when the guests liked it so much they begged for more.
There is a small town of Gorgonzola, but no cheese of that name is made there. The AOC designation is given to a number of creameries in the region. More so than Roquefort, there is considerable variation between the various producers. This results as much from the terroir of the grasses, herbs and wildflowers on which the herds graze as it does on cheese-making methods.
The two major variations available in most markets are:
Mountain Gorgonzola (a.k.a. Gorgonzola picante), aged for about one year, making it sharper tasting, firmer and more crumbly;and
Gorgonzole Dolce (a.k.a. Dolcelatte, literally “sweet milk”), which is much milder and with a creamy, spreadable texture, having been aged only three months.
Cant' get enough blue cheese? Check this out for more easy cheesy recipes, including:
- Saint Agur-Blessed Cream of Cauliflower Soup
- French-Style Burgers Stuffed with Blue Cheese
- Blue Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin
- Cheesy Polenta with Mushrooms and Chicken Livers
- Mac and Cheese for Grownups
- Sturgeon & Blue-Stuffed Shrooms
- Pasta with Salmon and Gorgonzola
- Pumpkin-Apple Soup & Blue Cheese
- Guinness Onion Soup w- Cashel Blue
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