Portabella Mushrooms with Gorgonzola Cheese (Cappellone)

I first ate Cappellone at Paradise Beach Grill in Capitola, California. This is one of my favorite places on the Esplanade to sit and people watch by the beach.  When picking out your portabellas, look for intact gills and a rounded cap. The caps tend to flatten out with age and become inverted and fragile. Also avoid the ones that are unusually moist, which might indicate spoilage.

4 large Portabella mushrooms

2 cup PJC roasted chicken stock

12 oz Gorgonzola cheese

1 loaf of artisan French bread

2 cloves of garlic

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Prep the mushrooms by removing the steams and scraping out the gills. (I like to dice the meaty part of the steams and add them to the Gorgonzola.)

Place the mushrooms in the bottom of the pit pan and crumble the Gorgonzola on top along with the diced steams.

Add 2 cups of stock. If you are substituting store bought stock for homemade, make sure it’s a low sodium one. If you are using PJC roasted stock the salt level is very low already. We are going to be reducing the stock (which changes the salt content) in this recipe while melting the Gorgonzola cheese. This will create the broth that the French bread will soak up.

 

Prepping the bread.

This takes a little planning if you want the proper texture. I slice the bread the day before and let it stale for 24 to 36 hours. Trust me, this will be the only time you ever get that advises from me! Normally, I don’t recommend eating day old bread, but we need to reduce the moisture content for this dish too prevent soggy toast. I try to get a really dense loaf to start with, so it will stand up to the broth. Slice the loaf into one inch thick slices, place it back into the bag it was sold in and leave it on the counter for a day.( I would caution against buying pre-sliced bread, as it is too thin for this recipe. )

We are going to use a steam-bake method so a 80/20 coal to unspent fuel works best.  You could make this in a cast iron Dutch oven but I’m going to use my 14” aluminum pit pan on the cooking surface. We want to get the heat inside the pan up to 350 degrees and hold it there for 20 to 30 minutes. I do this by monitor the progress and moving the pan around the grill to keep the action going.

Toasting the bread

While the portabella are simmering you can toast the French bread. Remember we want a really dry yet nicely toasted end result. When the bread is done rub garlic on it and drizzle with little Olive Oil. If you like a lot of garlic you can rub both sides. I personally like only a hint of garlic in Cappellone.

Serving

Take the mushrooms out of the pan and adjust the salt and pepper of the broth. Place the bread in a serving dish and top with cooked portabella’s. Pour the broth in the bottom of the serving platter. Drizzle with Olive Oil and serve. I like to reserve some of broth on the side for those who want more. Once the bread soaks up the broth, it tastes incredible when topped with a mushroom. We eat this as an appetizer, accompanied by a strong red wine. Today we paired it with a Renwood Zinfandel from Amador County, California. This dish is rustic with big earthy flavors it's best when served with a wine with similar characteristics.