My job for Christmas dinner is to make a large batch stuffed mushrooms. They need to be vegetarian but can include cheese. I’ve looked around online and found a lot of different ideas, wondering if folks could share the ones they liked the best. Which mushrooms do you use, the white button ones? The baby bellas? The cremini?
Also, a question that came up from reading various recipes: some recipes call for filling the mushrooms raw, then cooking them stovetop in a pan with oil. Others call for putting them in the oven raw baking them. Some cook the stuffing first, some put them uncooked into the raw mushrooms. Which is the best way to do it in your opinion?
I’ve done goat cheese stuffed mushrooms, and also a chorizo and ground pork stuffing. Both times I added the stuffing and then broiled them in the oven for about 10 mins.
In the case of the meat stuffing, I cooked it before stuffing the mushrooms. The mushroos were de-stemmed and washed prior to stuffing them.
Start with raw shrooms (stuffing-size buttons or baby bellas.) Remove stem (save for salads or a stir fry.) Put 1/2 a triangle of Laughing Cow cheese (any variety) or any variety of cream cheese in the cap. Smear some pesto over the top and spray with cooking spray. Bake at 350 or so for 10-15 minutes or so. Just keep an eye on them and when they’re sort of bubbly, they’re ready. People LOVE these and they are so easy!
Use your imagination…any kind of soft or spreadable cheese, plus any kind of spread, tapenade or sauce, plus a shake or two of parmesan…good stuff!
You can use baby bellas or white buttons; it doesn’t seem to matter much in my experience.
I stem the mushrooms and mince about half of the stems to use in the filling. For a large batch,
soften a brick of cream cheese. Add to the softened cream cheese: the minced stems with some thyme, a dash of Worcestershire, a splash of hot sauce, minced chives or shallots (I use both from my herb garden) and salt & pepper to taste. This is the filling.
I then cook the caps in some butter and olive oil in a large skillet. A few minutes on both sides, cooking them cavity side down last to prevent the caps from getting soggy from the juices that mushrooms exude.
Let cool until safe to handle, and stuff with the filling. Broil a few minutes until
puffy and golden. I have made the filling a day ahead to make less work before serving.
Stir fry some spinach. Make the stuffing from the chopped caps cooked in olive oil, spinach and ricotta cheese. I usually microwave them rather than broiling them in the oven.
I made some with a stuffing of feta cheese, breadcrumbs, and chopped black olives, with a little olive oil to smoosh it all together. Little white button mushrooms. I can’t remember if I used chopped-up stems too, but I don’t see why you couldn’t add them. Bake the raw, stuffed shrooms at 350ish for maybe 10 minutes? Not sure of the time, I kept checking them till they were turning brownish and then pulled them out.
I think I want to make some of those this week. Mmmmm. Mushrooms.
