Portabello Mushroom Sloppy Joes

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 4 whole wheat kaiser rolls or 4 onion rolls
• 1 cup monterey jack cheese (or any good mild melting cheese)
• 6 cups cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 1 red pepper, fine diced
• 1 celery rib, fine diced
• 1 medium onion (1/2 rough chopped, 1/2 fine diced)
• 1 carrot (medium rough chopped)
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil to saute the vegetables
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato puree
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste

Recipe

• 1 vegetables -- i do this in two steps. first i add the mushrooms to the food processor and pulse until fine chopped (about the size of peas) a crumbly texture. remove and set to the side.
• 2 second, add 1/2 of the onion and the carrot to the food processor and pulse again until fine chopped. the onion and carrot really begin to break down and it is a very fine puree. it adds a nice subtle flavor to the other vegetables in the sauce.
• 3 saute -- in a medium size sauce pan, add the olive oil and bring to medium high heat. add the carrot and onion mix, the other 1/2 of the onion diced (the texture between the fine puree and the chunkier onion bits is a nice blend in this sandwich), celery, red pepper, garlic and cook until everything is well combined, just 1-2 minutes. then add in the mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes. you may need to add just a little more olive oil which is fine. the mushrooms really tend to soak up the oil. but don't add too much.
• 4 sauce -- next, add all the remaining ingredients to the pan and cook 5-10 minutes to heat everything through. now if you like your sauce a bit thinner (as my friend does), you can add a little chicken stock or broth, but to me i like it thick and rich.
• 5 serve -- i always toast my rolls and then top the bottom half with lots of the sloppy joe mix and then top with the cheese. put them back under the broiler for just 30 seconds to melt the cheese, add the top of the roll back on and enjoy!