Italian Stuffed Mushrooms
Mushroom Lovers will love these beauties! So full of Italian flavors, a perfect first course or appetizer dish.
Mushroom lovers, like myself, can never get enough of them! Just to be sure, I grow a box or two of them every winter, when temps are cooler (they are happiest at 65 degrees) in the cool, dark space under my computer desk where I play footsies with my mushroom babies.
The “fun-guys” start out as fuzzy threads called “mycelium”, then little buds appear that look like pencil erasers, but grow quickly in cozy clusters to maturity. I let some of the hardiest button/cremini candidates reach their full potential with large caps that can hold generous spoonfuls of this sausage filling.
Italian sausage, the subtle onion flavor of shallots, perky pesto and the crumb and parm gratin on top nesting in the pocket of a buttery mushroom, makes an appetizer worthy of the fine discriminating palate of the mushroom aficionado. The mushroom - a dweller on the dark side = defects to the light in this recipe as a scrumptious mouthful!
Italian Stuffed Mushroom Caps
6 - 8 extra large button, baby bella or cremini mushrooms, stem removed, keeping caps intact
1/2 pound mild ground Italian Sausage
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, peeled and finely minced
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons basil pesto
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives (or 1 tablespoon dried chives)
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs or crushed Ritz or other cheese crackers
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
-Melt butter in a medium saute pan. Add oil and heat for about 1 minute. Add shallot and cook about 2 minutes over medium-high heat to soften. Add sausage to the saute pan and continue to cook, stirring frequently, breaking up the meat, until sausage is browned. Drain excess fat from the pan and set sausage mixture aside to cool.
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and dry mushroom caps then place, cavity side up, in a medium baking dish. Salt mushroom caps lightly.
-In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, pesto, garlic powder, chives, and cayenne pepper. Mix until smooth. Gently stir in the sausage mixture.
-Spoon sausage/cheese mixture generously into each mushroom cap. On each stuffed mushroom sprinkle crumbs and top with parmesan cheese, using all the crumbs and cheese in the process.
-Bake in oven 15 - 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 8.
All decked an ready to pop into the oven!
Tender, flavorful mushrooms, so deliciously succulent!
PERSNICKETY NOTES:
**To make a Keto version of these mushrooms, use a low carb cracker such as cheese crisps or cheese almond crackers in place of the bread crumbs on top.
