Vegetable Parmesan

I wanted to get some vegetarian recipes on the menu plan this week that we hadn't had in awhile or ones that were new to us. So, when I need ideas like that I go check my friend Jen B's blog. I used her vegetarian tag to come up with some ideas. This sounded yummy, and I had recently purchased the bag of grilled eggplant and zucchini from Trader Joe's. Perfect!

Jen B's Vegetable Parmesan

Cooking spray
2 large portobello mushroom caps, whole but stems and gills removed
1 bag of Trader Joe's marinaded grilled eggplant and zucchini (frozen)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar of marinara sauce
6 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup of shredded Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean mushroom caps with damp paper towel, then brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oiled grill pan over medium high heat. Grill mushrooms until tender, about 2-4 minutes per side. Grill marks should be present. Place mushrooms in a greased large 9 x 13 casserole dish, cup side up. Cook Trader Joe's eggplant/zucchini according to package directions. Once cooked, place in casserole dish with mushrooms. Sprinkle minced garlic over all the vegetables. Sprinkle all of Pecorino Romano cheese and half of the mozzarella over the vegetables. Spoon marinara sauce over veggies, making sure to spread evenly. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and all of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cheese melts and is golden and bubbly.

*****

For whatever reason I really didn't feel like making this on Monday (oh yeah...I felt a cold coming on and the idea of cooking anything really didn't appeal to me), but I went with it anyway because I knew it would be easy. Man alive I was glad I did because this was awesome!!!!! I ended up slicing up my mushrooms after grilling them so they'd be a bit more spread out through the dish.



The husband, baby, and I absolutely loved this. The baby had three helpings!!! He was quite a sight by the time he was done...I thought I'd document it for you all. Sorry for the blur, I only had my phone with which to take a picture and the shutter speed on that camera is less than stellar.



(Actually this was only partway through dinner...his was face was even messier by the time he finished his thirds!)

This is definitely something I'll make again. It was so simple to throw together, and so incredibly tasty. I love those grilled TJ's veggies--I've been pleased with them everytime I've used them. And it's so much faster than grilling (and buying and slicing and seasoning) my own.