THINGS I LIKE: Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Ever since I was a young man and tasted my first baked, stuffed mushroom, a totally elegant one at what was at that time a very fancy, up-scale NY restaurant, “The Forum of the Twelve Caesars”, which consisted of a large white mushroom filled with half a toasted walnut, topped with a snail and covered with snail butter sauce (butter, chopped parsley and plenty of garlic), I have been a fan of stuffed mushrooms.  Not necessarily fancy filled ones, as described above, but more the “down to earth” kind.  My “go to” stuffed mushroom, has the mushrooms filled with sweet Italian sausage, (my own home-made or store bought), pieces of toasted pine nuts, shredded Parmesan cheese, chopped Italian parsley, fennel seed and oregano, drizzled with Olive oil and baked. This has been a dish enjoyed by my wife Susan and me on a regular basis in our home. However, always trying to find new ways to modify and still enjoy familiar dishes to us, I came up with the following variety on stuffed mushrooms. It turned out to be a success because when I first served it to Susan, she said she really enjoyed them. With feed-back like that, I had to share the recipe with my friends. It follows.

 CHEESE STUFFED MUSHROOMS

INGREDIENTS

1) 1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
2) 1/2  C shredded, real Parmesan cheese (or Romano)  
3)  3/4 C toasted Pine nuts, coarsely chopped.
4)  1 clove minced garlic
5)  8-10 pieces of sun dried tomato in olive oil, placed in food processor until finely chopped.
6)  2 tsp dried or 2 Tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
7) TT salt* and freshly ground black pepper
8) oil from tomatoes plus Extra Virgin Olive Oil
9) 2 pints button mushrooms, medium to large size, stems removed and washed, if necessary.

PREPARATION

 Preheat oven to 375C

1) Mix ingredients 1-6 in a large bowl. Add enough of the sun-dried tomato olive oil to totally coat all ingredients (add Olive oil, if necessary) and mix. Using your clean hands is the best way.
2)  Stuff mixture into mushrooms, mounding slightly until all are filled.  Number will depend on size of mushrooms. Place on  Olive oiled or parchment lined sheet pan.
3) Place in oven and bake until, cheese is melted and mushrooms cooked through; 30-45 minutes.

Serve: individually, as an hors d’oeuvre, 2-3 as an appetizer or with a salad as a main lunch or dinner course, depending on how many you serve as a portion. 

*One should always taste, taste, taste when preparing a dish. In this case, taste stuffing mixture before adding salt since the cheeses used can vary in saltiness. Different Mozzarella cheeses may vary in their saltiness and if you are using Romano instead of Parmesan this is especially true, since Romano is saltier than Parmesan. Adjust the amount of salt to suit your taste.