When Mushrooms Canada asked Canadian Food Bloggers to share
a holiday recipe using mushrooms, I thought that an elegant and crowd-pleasing
appetizer recipe would be perfect. I remembered seeing a recipe for stuffed
portabella mushrooms, then came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea to
stuff smaller crimini mushrooms with some sort of creamy goat cheese mixture. I
turned to Google to see if there was anything similar out there for
inspiration, only to discover that pretty much every other person in the world
has already had this idea before me. Apparently I’m not so brilliant after all.
I decided to still go
ahead with the stuffed mushrooms because I’ve never tried them before, and with
that many recipes out there, they must be good! Since it was too overwhelming
to try to choose a recipe from all the options, I ended up just making up my
own mixture based on what I thought would taste good. I’m calling them
‘Italian’ stuffed mushrooms because the ingredients I chose seemed to form an
Italian theme (sundried tomatoes, garlic, breadcrumbs, parsley, basil,
parmesan..), but true Italians may disagree with me :)
When the warm, savory
little mushrooms came out of the oven bubbling with cheese, I couldn’t resist
biting into one right away. Of course, I immediately spit it out because it was
scalding hot, then stood there impatiently waiting for them to cool down, the
torture from the smell growing every second. When they were cool enough to eat,
I scarfed one down, then another, and another .. they were so good! I shared only
a couple with my sister to get
a second opinion (she confirmed they were delicious), then ate more for dinner
and the rest for lunch the next day (they were definitely best fresh out of the
oven but I still enjoyed them reheated the following day).
I cannot believe I
haven’t tried these earlier, but I plan on making up for all my years without
stuffed mushrooms by making them any chance I get from now on! I will
especially make sure they make an appearance at at least one holiday gathering
this month because I know everyone else in my family will love them too. I also
want to try one of the many other versions out there but I feel like I don’t
even need another recipe because I liked this one so much! Maybe one day :)
Italian Stuffed Mushrooms with Goat Cheese
Makes about 10-15 stuffed mushrooms - Plan on
1-2 per person as an appetizer
Ingredients:
8-10 oz cremini
mushrooms (about 10-15 mushrooms, depending on the size - I found the
smaller, the better)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves of garlic,
minced
3 tablespoons finely
chopped sundried tomatoes (I used about 4-5 dried tomatoes, redhydrated as
per package instructions, but you could also use the oil-packed kind)
4 oz goat cheese
2 tablespoons Italian
breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped
fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried
basil (or 1-2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons grated
parmesan cheese
*Note: The Italian breadcrumb mixture I used
already contained salt, but if you are using plain breadcrumbs you may wish to
add a pinch of salt or other seasonings along with the pepper.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Wipe mushrooms with a
damp paper towel to clean (don’t wash as the mushrooms will absorb the water).
Break off the stems and set them aside. Gently scoop out the gills inside the
mushroom (I used 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon to do this) and discard, being
careful not to break through the mushrooms.
Spray a baking sheet
with cooking spray and set mushrooms on the pan with the hollowed side facing
up. Bake for 10 minutes at 375°F. Pools of water will form in the hollowed out
part of the mushroom. Remove baking sheet from oven and pour out the water from
each mushroom, then replace mushrooms on sheet.
Meanwhile, dice the
reserved mushroom stems. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add
diced stems and shallot and cook until lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes,
stirring often. Add garlic and saute for another 30 seconds or so. Transfer
mixture to a bowl.
Add chopped sundried
tomatoes, goat cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, and pepper to the bowl and
mix everything together until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Spoon goat cheese
mixture into the mushrooms. Top each with a light sprinkle of parmesan. Bake
for 15-20 minutes at 375°F.
Remove from oven and
top with additional chopped parsley, if desired. Serve warm.
These look wonderful Natalie - If I was at a party and these were on the hors d'oeuvre table, I'd plant myself right next to that plate :) Good luck with the contest!
ReplyDelete@Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks Mardi! And thanks for helping to organize the contest, I love excuses to test new recipes and eat the results all myself :)
These look amazing! I love mushrooms and goat cheese. What a wonderful appetizer (or lunch...or dinner...).
ReplyDeleteI loved these, I think they should go on our Christmas Eve menu!
ReplyDelete@Rose
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rose! I probably shouldn't recommend them as a meal but I didn't want them to go to waste and they're so addicting that once I stopped eating them, I realized I couldn't fit much else in my stomach for dinner!
@Genevieve
That's the plan! :)
I'm having a Christmas party next week and these are DEFINITELY going on the menu! They are perfect!
ReplyDelete@Teanna
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome, I'm excited you're going to try them! I hope everyone likes them as much as I did :)
mushrooms and goat cheese...say.no.more.
ReplyDeleteWOW Natalie, There are a couple I want to eat write know. I will be getting the recipes. You are doing a great job.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
ReplyDeleteThese sound delicious! I haven't made stuffed mushrooms in forever but this really makes me want some asap!
ReplyDelete