Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms definitely have to be at the top of my favorite appetizers list. I make these often for catered parties because they are the perfect bite. They are best served hot out of the oven but they are also fine at room temperature and can hold up on a platter for a bit. Its also nice that you can make these ahead of time or the day before and they pop them in the oven just before guests arrive. When I make these for the holidays I typically make a bunch of them vegetarian and then I add browned crumbled sausage into the remaining mixture to take them up a notch. They are amazing on their own but with sausage they are heavenly. I hope you enjoy them!!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Makes about 20

Ingredients:

1 lb baby bella mushrooms (2 pints)

1 tbsp olive oil

½ lb Italian ground sausage (I use sweet, you can use hot if you’d like) Optional

½ yellow onion

4 stalks celery

1/3 cup bread crumb

¼ cup chicken broth (or vegetable if you are not using sausage)

½ tsp dried parsley

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp truffle powder (optional)

Salt/ pepper to taste

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. If using sausage, heat a frying pan over medium heat, add sausage and cook until browned.  Transfer sausage into a small bowl and keep on the side.

3. Chop onion and celery. Clean mushrooms by soaking them in cold water and then wipe any remaining dirt with paper towel if needed. Remove stems from mushrooms and rough chop the stems. The mushroom tops can be placed onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

4. Add onion, celery, and mushroom stems to sauté pan with 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook until translucent and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. If mixture looks a little dry you can add a splash of broth.

5. Remove sauté pan from the heat. Add sausage, breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic powder, thyme and truffle powder if using. Add in broth to moisten mixture. Taste for seasoning and add more salt/ pepper, spices or herbs if needed.

   Note: I always make 2 or 3 servings of the mushrooms vegetarian and then I add the sausage to the rest of the mixture. You can omit the sausage or put it in the full batch.

6. When you are happy with the flavor of the stuffing, add about ½ -1 tbsp of filling into each mushroom.

7. Bake mushrooms for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and tops are golden brown.

8. Transfer to a serving platter and enjoy while hot! You can garnish with a little parsley on top and some rosemary on the platter.