Beef Tenderloin Fillets with Spinach Cambozola Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce

Beef Tenderloin Fillets with Spinach Cambozola Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce is entree and side dish all in one.  You might call this dish seriously “over-the-top!”

The inspiration behind this recipe:

Even this veggie-loving girl needs a good steak every now and then.  Beef tenderloin fillets are what we do at home when we’re craving steak.

To me, the perfect filet mignon is cooked to medium doneness and is served with either a creamy horseradish sauce, a creamy cognac sauce or hearty red wine sauce.  Filet mignon is a mild cut of beef so it often needs the help of a sauce.  When we make it with a red wine sauce, a good blue cheese crumbled over the steak is a must!

Creamed spinach is a classic side dish for steak that’s often on the menu in steakhouses.  Here, that concept is stuffed into hearty, meaty-textured Portobello mushrooms served atop the steaks for all the elements that go along with a great steak.

How to make Beef Tenderloin Fillets with Spinach Cambozola Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce:

Start with the sauce:

• Combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and let that simmer on low heat while working on the mushrooms and steaks.

Work on the mushrooms:

• Scrape the gills and remove the stem.
• Mushrooms contain a lot of water so it’s important to bake them before filling to extract some of it.  Five or six minutes in the oven is all it takes.
• After baking, flip them over to drain while cooking the spinach.
• Spinach also contains a lot of water.  After the spinach is cooked, prop one side of the pan on a folded kitchen towel or on some potholders to drain that excess liquid away.
• Then comes the Cambozola.  OMG.  Cambozola is one of my favorite cheeses!  It’s got the creaminess of brie or camembert, however, the “blue” flavor is fairly delicate.  Often referred to as a “gateway” blue cheese, it’s perfect for people who are not big fans of blue cheese.  That doesn’t describe me–I could live on blue cheese!
• The cheese will soften and melt slightly when mixed with the spinach.  The mushrooms are perfectly fine enjoyed this way.  However, place them in the pan with the steaks when it’s time to finish them in the oven so the cheese gets super melty.

Cook the steaks:

• I let beef tenderloin fillets sit at room temperature a little so they’re not too cold when they hit the pan.  Serious Eats provides some information on why this is not necessary, however, I’m old-fashioned.  It can’t hurt.
• Whether you let them sit at room temperature or not, be sure to season generously with salt and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper.

• Use a good, heavy skillet such as cast iron to sear the fillets to brown them.
• Be careful not to turn them too quickly—give them a couple of minutes per side.
• When you have a deep brown crust on all sides, place the stuffed mushrooms in the pan then transfer to the oven for the steaks to finish cooking to your preferred doneness.

Are these beautiful or what?

• With experience, it’s possible to estimate doneness simply by pressing down on the steaks.
• Food 52  has a quick and easy way on how to tell when your steak is done simply by using your face.
  • If they are soft to the touch, they’re close to rare.
  • If they yield slightly to the touch but are beginning to feel firm they are close to medium.
  • Firm…. well…. if you must….

The beef, the mushrooms, the cheese, the red wine sauce for the perfect bite!

More quick and delicious beef recipes you’ll love:

• Grilled Marinated Skirt Steak with Peperonata
• Buttery Blackened Steak Bites with Gorgonzola
• Indian-Style Beef Kabobs with Cilantro – Coconut Sauce
• Japanese Beef and Shishito Pepper Skewers
• Thai Beef Lettuce Wraps with Mint Dressing and Vegetable Slaw
• Steak au Poivre and Broiled Lobster Tail with Roasted Asparagus
• Lighter Beef Stroganoff

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