Stuffed Mushroom Caps
Not-your-mama’s stuffed mushrooms
I say that because these are literally not my mom’s stuffed mushrooms. One-bite stuffed mushrooms were always her go to if we had to bring an appetizer to a potluck, and they were always the first thing to disappear. This is my interpretation that can serve more as a side dish, entree, or packed lunch.
Ingredients
4 large Portabella mushroom caps
1/2 cup chopped crimini or button mushrooms
1 small leek, quartered, sliced, and washed
1/2 lb sweet italian sausage (you can get the ground sausage in a package in the meat section or links. If links, make sure they are uncooked so that you can squeeze the meat out of the casings)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (check out @chefmcshane ‘s “tips” story highlight to see how I make my own seasoned bread crumbs!)
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (another nutty italian cheese could sub here, like asiago, romano, or even a bag of shredded italian blend)
A few tablespoons of your favorite italian herbs (pictured is fresh basil, parsley, and oregano, but dried basil/parsley/oregano or even some sage would be nice as well)
Instructions
Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 350º. Squeeze out or unpackage your Italian sausage into a large skillet. Set it to medium-low heat and start to break it up with your spatula as it sizzles. Sprinkle the herbs over the sausage.
Chop your crimini or button mushrooms into a fine dice. Also lay out mushroom caps top-down on a lightly greased sheet pan and remove innerds from the caps. You know, the soft ribbed parts. Chop and mix all the mushroom parts together. Set prepped caps aside.
Meanwhile, when the sausage has rendered a good bit of fat but isn’t quite all cooked through yet, toss in your chopped mushroom mixture as well as the leeks, season with a little salt and black pepper, and toss to combine.
Once the mushrooms have released a little bit of moisture, pour in your Worcestershire sauce and stir to coat. Then, sprinkle in the bread crumbs and toss to combine. You may need more or less bread crumbs depending on how much moisture the mushrooms released. Once the mixture is warmed through, turn off the heat and grate in the parmesan. Toss to combine.
Scoop one quarter of the mixture into each of the mushroom caps and put the tray of caps into the oven for about 5 minutes. Garnish with more parmesan and herbs.
