Party Food: Stuffed Mushrooms

One of the reasons I love this time of year is for the party food! When I get invited to a party or if I’m having one of my own, the first thing I think about is the food. I love seeing platters of different things to try. A little of this and a little of that I like variety!

One of my go to recipes for party food is Stuffed Mushrooms. It’s easy to make and tastes really good! And, this one is even kid approved (by my girls, at least!) If your kids like to cook, this is a good one for them to try. My girls have helped me with this one in the past.

OK, you start off with white mushrooms, grated Parmesan cheese, flat leaf parsley, garlic and some day old (or so) bread like Italian or French Bread.

Around this time you can get large white mushrooms that are specifically meant for stuffing. For this instance, I had a small package but if I was having a party I would get a much larger one. This was like a tease – only had 7 in the package!

Here’s a tip – don’t ever wash mushrooms. They’re like sponges and will soak up all the water. if they look like they need to be wiped off, take a damp paper towel and just wipe them clean.

Pull the stems off. We’ll be using them in the stuffing. I’ve made these with crimini mushrooms before which are baby portabellas but in that case the stems are too woodsy and I just throw them out.

If you have a food processor it’s a cinch, otherwise it’s still easy – just get chopping! I put them in a food processor and then set it aside in a bowl.

Next I put the bread, parsley and garlic in the food processor but first tore up the bread, rinsed off the parsley and took the outer paper stuff off the garlic. Then whizzed it up! Again, you can just chop everything with a knife and if you didn’t want to make fresh bread crumbs, you can use the dried ones I have 4C Seasoned in my cabinet as a backup. I prefer the fresh though – it tastes lighter.

Pour in the bowl with the chopped mushrooms. Add a palm full of grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of kosher salt.

Next I mixed in some extra virgin olive oil – about 2 to 3 tablespoons. Just use your judgement. The mixture shouldn’t be saturated or dry but instead when you take a ball of it and squeeze it in your hand, ti should stay together. Next, start filling the mushrooms!

I put a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of the pan so they wouldn’t stick.

Since I only had a few mushrooms, I had leftover stuffing that I used for a separate recipe. Notice how they’re light in color before they go in the oven. Time to start cooking! Put the mushrooms in a 350 degree oven for about a half an hour.

When they’re done, the breading will get brown and crispy and the mushrooms will become a dark brown. They shrink up a bit as they cook so don’t be surprised when they come out smaller!