Baking

Oh, stuffed mushrooms… How I love thee!

Seriously, I love them!

BUT, let’s go back a ways… I remember sitting in the school cafeteria when I was a little first grader, sitting with all of my friends. At one point someone started talking about foods they hated and mushrooms became the number one food on the hit list. I remember sitting there not really knowing if I loved, liked or hated mushrooms, but if all of these 1st graders hated them, I must too!

That was the beginning of my war against mushrooms. My mom didn’t cook with them often, but when she did, I most definitely turned up my nose and refused to eat whatever she had served. Mushrooms were poison!

Fast forward 10 years and I found myself at a Christmas Party hosted by one of my friend’s Mom and they were serving stuffed mushrooms. Heavens… There was no way I was going to try that evil concoction! Then they were passed my way and luckily my Mother had taught me good manners, I graciously took one and then started to sweat trying to figure out how to wiggle my way out of this pickle. Everyone was gushing over the mushrooms and I could feel the pressure to try these nasty little bits. I steeled myself for a rough experience and tried a little bite to save face and not look like a little jerk and then… The heavens opened!

ARE YOU KIDDING?!

Is this what mushrooms taste like?

Boy was I mislead! Darn you little first grade friends!

It didn’t hurt that these little gems where topped with a lovely concoction of sausage, bread crumbs, cheese and who knows what else. They were amazing!

That my friends was the beginning of my love for mushrooms especially stuffed mushrooms.

This is one of those gem recipes that is great to pull out when you really want to impress your guests. It’s really easy to make, but it looks labor intensive. It’s also one of those recipes that mostly uses ingredients that are easy to store in your pantry and if not, they are easy to grab at your local Market.

I ran to my local Walmart here in Lincoln…

And grabbed some mushrooms, Progresso™ Italian Style Bread Crumbs, sausage (you can find my favorite sausage brand HERE), onion, parsley, parmesan cheese, cream cheese, garlic & white wine.

I usually keep some Progresso™ Bread Crumbs in my pantry at all times. They are perfect for this recipe and so many others like chicken parmesan, meatballs, eggplant parmesan, meatloaf, oven “fried” veggies… The list goes on and on. They’re PERFECT for these stuffed mushrooms!!

Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe

+ This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten’s Stuffed Mushroom recipe +

20-25 button mushrooms or petite portobello mushrooms

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons white wine

1/2 of a small to medium onion

1 lb mild sausage

2 garlic gloves minces

1 cup Progresso™ Italian Style Bread Crumbs

2/3 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Directions

Clean mushrooms and remove stems. Do not discard stems. In a bowl pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the white wine over the mushrooms to marinade them while you’re prepping the sausage stuffing, set aside.

In a medium sauce pan add the remaining olive oil over medium high heat.

Add onions and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add sausage and cook until nicely browned, 8-10 minutes. Then add garlic and the remaining mushroom stems chopped into fine pieces. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium low and add bread crumbs.

Next, remove from heat and add the parmesan and cream cheeses and mix well letting the cheese melt into the mixture.

Finally add the chopped parsley and combine.

Place mushrooms in a cast iron pan or baking dish like so…

Spoon sausage mixture on top of the mushroom caps.

Top with parmesan cheese and place in a 325˚ oven for 50 minutes.

Loosely lay a sheet of foil over the top of the mushrooms to avoid excess browning. Remove foil for the last 5 minutes to finish browning.

Remove from oven and serve warm.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Progresso™ The opinions and text are all mine.