Raw Portobello "Parmesan"

Created by Sharon Steinberg Shiner, Owner of http://thyme-to-cook.com/
http://rawkingout2010.blogspot.com/2010/06/raw-portobello-parmesan.html

Hands down, this is the best raw food I have prepared to date.
Using the raw marinara that I blogged about here, and a cashew "cream", I stuffed portobellos and dehydrated them. The result was a melt in your mouth, delicious, velvety, yet savory and filling dish.

Let's talk about the cashew cream. The recipe came from an amazing blog, called Rawmazing. The recipe that follows is my adaptation:
Cashew Cream
1 cup cashews, soaked until soft, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup young coconut meat
2-3 TBS young coconut water (I actually used a bit more than this)
1 small garlic clove (I used only 1/2 a clove since I find garlic can easily overpower a raw recipe)
Pinch Celtic Sea Salt
Pinch of fresh ground black pepper
2-3 TBS fresh chopped cilantro (You can use any herb that you like)

To prepare, simply put all ingredients except cilantro in a high speed blender and blend until a smooth consistency is achieved. Stir in the fresh herbs and check your seasoning; adjust accordingly.

Cashews are a great nut to make creamy sauces out of, including ice creams! That is for another blog...

Next you need to prepare the portobellos. Remove the stem and then use a small spoon to gently scrape out the gills. Once the gills are cleaned out, drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil across the area where the gills were, and season with Celtic sea salt and pepper.

Now, layer in your sauces, first the raw marinara, then the cashew cream.

That's it. The portobellos are ready to go into the dehydrator. I chose not to use a Teflex sheet, but rather put the portobellos on the screen instead. I dehydrated them at 105 for ~8 hrs.

The portobellos softened up beautifully, and the marinara and cream sauces both firmed up a bit, creating a pleasing texture. The taste was off the hook.