Multicultural Stuffed Portabello

If you're low-carbing it, and find yourself in the grips of a pizza desperation, this is a more than adequate alternative. It's pretty damn good no matter what you're dietary status is. You'll need:

1. portabello mushroom caps- I recommend the biggest you can find
2. 8 oz Italian sausage- I use turkey for calorie/fat sake, and I really can't tell the difference
3. 1 small onion, chopped
4. 3 cloves garlic, crushed*
5. 1 poblano pepper, chopped*****
6. mozarella cheese - here's where the extra calories are probably worth it. If you can't bring yourself to get the real stuff, at least avoid the super skim milk version.
7. 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped*
8. cooking spray/olive oil
9. salt and pepper

*****A word about poblano peppers: I'm a huge fan of the seasonings in Italian sausage, but poblano peppers have this incredible smokiness that I cannot get enough of. I do my best to weasle poblanos into every recipe I can, and this is no exception. It is, however, a somewhat tricky ingredient. First of all, I HIGHLY recommend using gloves if you're going to be slicing them open. Trust me. I've cooked some up, showered, dinner partied, then attempted to take out my contacts, only to end the evening in writhing agony, all Polyphemus-like. Second, there's a lot of variation in the strength of flavor in these guys. Sweetness, heat, flavor are never the same in poblanos, and I am not aware of a method to deduce this without tasting them. I say 1 poblano for this recipe, which is usually correct, but I recommend taking a taste test to see just how much you want to add.

On with the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 400, and start prepping the mushrooms. Cut the stems so they're equal in height to the walls of the mushroom, then with a spoon, carefully shell out the gills. Put all this byproduct in a medium-sized bowl- you'll use this for all the stuffing. Spray a glass pan with cooking spray, or brush it with olive oil, and put the mushroom top side down on the pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip them to stem side down and bake for another 5 minutes.

While this is happening, work on the stuffing. Brown the Italian sausage in a frying pan, breaking it up with your spatula. Once that's done, scoop it out of the pan and onto a papertowl to absorb some of the grease. I use the grease left in the pan to fry up the onion, garlic, and poblanos, but feel free to drain it off if it seems like too much (especially if you're using non-turkey sausage). Fry the veggies until they're tender and the poblano tastes more sweet than hot. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Now put all the veggies, the cooked meat, and parsley into your bowl previously designated as the stuffing container. Add about 1/4 c mozzarella cheese. Mix everything up, then stuff it into your cooked mushrooms. Fit as much as you can, packing down if necessary. You'll probably have a lot leftover, but this stuffing makes a KILLER omelette the next morning. Top each mushroom with a thick coat of cheese, I'll say about 1/4 cup each. Put everything back in the oven for another 5 minutes, then flip it over to broil. Broil your meal for a few minutes until you see that golden-brown color. I like mine pretty crispy...