When I first started out with raw food, I used to love smaller mushrooms filled with pesto, so it’s a real treat for me to revisit a bit of a raw food classic for autumn.
I’ve filed this under ‘main meals’, but it could just as easily be a starter, perhaps with one mushroom instead of 2.
If you’re making it a main course, I’d recommend serving it with a nice big green leafy salad, perhaps with some olives, sundried tomatoes and macadamia tree nut cheese.
You’ll see there’s instructions for using a cooker if you don’t have a dehydrator. The timing and temperature for the oven version is a guideline, because every oven is different, depending on whether it’s gas or electric and if it has a fan. So you’ll need to keep an eye on it and test to see what works for you.
Enjoy!
Portabella Mushrooms with Walnut Rocket Pesto
Nutrition (For one serving)
Ingredients
Main
- 4 Portabella mushrooms
- 3 tbsp tamari
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Pesto
- 4 oz rocket leaves arugula
- 1/2 cup walnuts soaked for 2 hours and rinsed
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Toss the mushrooms in the tamari, olive oil and lemon juice for a few minutes.
- Dehydrate in for 3 hours at 115 degrees F, or if using an oven, place on a baking tray and cook on the lowest temperature, which is usually around 150 F (65 C) for about an hour, keeping an eye on them, so they’re lightly cooked and softened.
- Pulse the rocket leaves, walnuts, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic and salt in a food processor.
- Whilst the food processor is running pour in the olive oil so it emulsifies and doesn’t separate later on.
- Serve a couple of spoonfuls on each of the warm mushrooms straight out of the dehydrator or oven.
Hi Russell. Thank you for the recipe. I don’t care for arugula; good thing; it’s very expensive here. What would be a good substitute that would not compromise the flavor and texture as you intended?
I would suggest going for the traditional basil instead.
hi. I cant eat walnuts and usually substitute pecans. Just wondering if soaking for 2hours (in hot or cold water?) will get rid of the oil/acid that makes my mouth hurt. same with strawberries, BTW, can eat two or three but that’s the limit.
Hmm, not sure about that as I’ve not had any experience with it. Probably worth a go, or just substitute the walnuts.