Caprese Stuffed Portobellos

This looked so good.  If you want the recipe, click this link.  I'll show you how I did mine which was a little different than the recipe.   I was worried about the liquid that would ooze out from the shrooms .  I also worried that the filling would be ready way before the mushrooms were even cooked.  So, I decided I'd roast them first in the oven.  I cleaned them, took the stems out and then brushed with olive oil and seasoned with S&P (kosher and fresh cracked) and garlic powder.

I put the stems in the freezer for stock.  They were huge! I left the gills in because they don't bother me.  If I was serving this to company, I might have took them out.  If I took them out, I would have skipped the oven step altogether as well.

I put them stem side down on a baking sheet.  They were a little delicate and I broke a piece of one when taking out the stem.  I patched it together with 2 toothpicks.  And another I ripped the cap skin off when taking it out of the packaging.   I put them in a preheated oven of 400°F and let them go until the liquid came out and they were tender.  That took 20 minutes in my oven and flipped them once.  I wished they looked more like cups, but they didn't.  😟  One out of four did though...

I let them cool.  I lightly patted them dry and moved them onto a grill sheet for the BBQ.  I seasoned  the insides with a tad more garlic powder and S&P.  I only used a third of the cheese below.

Then I stuffed (well, placed the ingredients on) them with halved grape tomatoes and pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese.  I also put some fresh basil leaves on.  I put these on the grill (covered) until the cheese was melted.

I squeezed some balsamic syrup over and then topped with more torn basil.  I served this as the side for grilled pork chops.

I think next time I make these, I will hand pick the 'bellas so I can find ones that have nice cups to them.  A bowl shape is ideal.  I bought a package of 4 from Costco and could only see the tops.  That might help retain the filling.  The cheese and some tomatoes slid while on the grill.  However, this was really tasty and like a Caprese salad.  Imagine that.  😊   The fresh basil as the garnish ensured that.  I think next time I would put them in the oven for 10 minutes and then move to the grill to finish.  I wouldn't let them cool first either.  Practice makes perfect...