Baked Portobello Mushrooms with Dolcelatte, Bacon and a Balsamic, Rosemary and Lemon Sauce

It was Saturday, It was hot and i fancied a lightish lunch as I was out to a friends for a BBQ later. Mostly from what i already had in the fridge I was able to come up with this dish. 

First of all i cut up some streaky bacon into strips and fried it off in a small pan until crispy, then I took the bacon out and set it aside. Meanwhile i had the oven heating to 200c and the mushrooms in a oven dish. In the pan that I’d cooked the bacon in I added a litttle butter and gently sauteed some crushed garlic and chopped rosemary, then i added about a tablespoon of  balsamic vinegar, a little mustard and the juice of about half a lemon before tasting and seasoning. As the sauce is made in the same pan as the bacon was cooked in it also picks up some the great savory bacon flavours. After a litttle whisking to bring the sauce together i spooned half the mixture over the mushrooms.

Then I simply broke the dolcelatte into chunks placed them on the mushroom and then adorned the top with the pieces of crispy bacon before putting them into the oven for around 20 minutes. 

To serve the dish I griddled some sourdough bread, drizzled it with lemon infused olive oil, before layering on a little rocket. When the mushrooms emerged from the oven, a delicious bubbling mass of cheese and bacon, I placed them on the sourdough and rocket base and then garnished with chopped spring onions, chives and the remainder of the sauce.

 
The slight acidity of the sauce was the perfect couterbalance to the richness of the melted dolcelatte and the freshness of the rocket, spring onions and chive provided the necessary taste of summer. A great little lunch that could just as easily be a knockout starter or with the omission of the bread could be a low carb dinner.