Savory Stuffed Mushrooms :)

If you’re looking for a fairly quick, really delicious meal – look no further. This recipe is just plain ‘ole YUM!! This is a combination of several recipes that I’ve tried and combined to come up with just the right flavors for the stuffing for these mushrooms. Serve with a Caesar Salad (or the salad or side of your choice) and you have a meal!

Ingredients

1 TBLS Dijon Mustard

1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

6 ounces frozen chopped spinach (if you use fresh, I recommend you chop the fresh spinach into small pieces and then saute it in a couple drops of olive oil, then add to mixture)

1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese or ricotta cheese

2  (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

3 cloves fresh garlic (minced)

1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1/4 cup green onions – chopped

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp ground thyme

40 large fresh baby portabella mushrooms

3/4 tsp olive oil

1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Optional – 3 oz. baby shrimp – chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove stems from mushrooms and take a spoon and dig out a little cavity in each mushroom. Finely chop the stems and the scooped out insides.

Place mushroom caps on baking sheet, open cavity up.

In a skillet, heat the oil and add chopped mushroom stems, garlic, oregano, onions and thyme. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Squeeze moisture from the spinach and add to cooked mushrooms, along with cottage or ricotta cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, shrimp (if desired), breadcrumbs, mustard, & cayenne pepper; mix well with a mixer. Top each mushroom generously with filling.

Sprinkle each filled mushroom with a little shredded Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for 20-25 minutes until mushrooms are tender. Serve warm.

Just a side note: When baked, the mushrooms tend to leak juice, so they end up cooking in that juice. I put mine on a grilling rack and place that rack on a parchment-lined baking sheet. This allows the extra moisture to drip off and the mushrooms aren’t sitting in that moisture during baking. (This was my daughter, Jenny’s idea 🙂 ) . It keeps the mushrooms from becoming soggy.

I served my mushrooms with sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with feta cheese and salt and pepper…also, a kale and spinach salad drizzled with a little Caesar and Balsamic dressing and fresh pineapple.

ENJOY!