Stuffed Mushrooms
My family has done a low carb diet (or a variation of it) a couple different times. One of the best things to come out of that diet was stuffed mushrooms. I love how savory and protein-packed they are.
Stuffed mushrooms make a great appetizer or side dish.
What you need:
- 2 baskets of mushrooms
- olive oil
- Jimmy Dean precooked and crumpled breakfast sausage
- 4 green onions
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
You start by removing the stems from the mushrooms. They should just snap out if you bend them close to the cap. There needs to be plenty of room inside the cap for the filling later.
Toss the mushroom caps in a bowl with some olive oil. You don’t want them to be slimy. Nobody like slimy mushrooms. So don’t go crazy with the olive oil.
Arrange the caps on a cookie sheet so it will be easy to add the filling. And preheat the oven to 400ºF.
In a medium-sized frying pan, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the sausage. We like to use the precooked stuff by Jimmy Dean because it’s tasty and it’s fast. You can use whatever you like best.
Chop up the stems from the mushrooms. You need a cup of finely chopped mushroom for the filling.
Chop up your four green onions.
Add the chopped mushrooms, onions, and garlic to the sausage. Don’t forget to add the Italian seasoning. ½ tsp is really just a guideline; if you really like a lot of spice, add more. If you’re sensitive to spices, go for less.
Sauté your filling until it’s all browned. The chopped mushrooms will reduce when they’re cooked and let out a lot of water.
Remove from heat to add the cheeses. You want the cheese to melt into the mixture.
Spoon the filling into the mushroom caps. They will be overflowing, really pile the filling on top! You may have leftover—but it makes for a yummy pre-appetizer appetizer.
We like to add extra cheese to the top of each mushroom cap.
Bake for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them though, you don’t want them to burn, but you do want the cheese to melt and be golden.
They can be very filling. This recipe makes a lot of mushrooms. You could cut this recipe in half and just use a basket of mushrooms and still have plenty for two people, I think. I will say that they don’t reheat very well, so try not to make more than you think you’ll eat.
Enjoy!
