Many moons ago, I was talking easy weeknight meals with my aunt.  She loves good food but loves not cooking.  Her motto was always that if it had more than five ingredients, she wasn’t making it.  So together, we dreamed up a pizza made in mushroom caps (no making of dough required!) with a few favorite toppings.  Easy peasy, right?  And so Portobello Pizzas were born.  I make them with a few more than my aunt’s five ingredient limit, but they can be as easy or as complicated as you want them to be.  Want to make your own sauce?  Go for it!  Prefer fresh herbs?  Perfect!  Want even more – or different – toppings?  Have fun creating!  Or take a few shortcuts and whip these up in no time using a few jarred and dried items.  The world is your pizza!  Make it any way you want!

Portobello Pizzas

• 3-4 Portobello mushroom caps
• 8 oz jar marinara (or fresh sauce)
• 6-8 bacon strips
• 1 medium green peppers
• bag of mini pepperoni slices
• 1 can black olives
• Parmesan & Mozzarella cheese
• Oregano & Basil (fresh or dried)

To get started, preheat oven to 350º and begin to fry up your bacon until crispy, then set aside.  While the bacon is cooking, clean and remove the stems and gills from your mushroom caps and spread a generous dollop of sauce inside.  Add a layer of the Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses.  Dice your green peppers and chop your olives (try that handy dandy egg slicer tip from my Facebook Page!) and add to caps.  Add the pepperoni.  Once bacon is cool, crumble or chop, then add to caps.

Add a final layer of cheeses and top with a little oregano and basil.  On a foil-lined baking sheet*, bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on thickness and size of caps.

*Make sure the baking sheet has a lip because the mushrooms and toppings will produce lots of yummy juices and you don’t want a mess in your oven!