Stuffed Mushrooms

These yummy little sidekicks are easy to make, and work great as an appetizer or to go along with your main course.  Makes 12 stuffed mushrooms.

Ingredients

12 large mushrooms with stems (Button or Baby Bellas work fine), well washed

8 oz. bulk breakfast sausage (mild or hot, whatever you prefer)

½ medium onion, finely chopped

4 tbl. cream cheese (we use the low-fat kind)

2 tbl. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

dash of Paprika

Directions

·         Remove the stems from the mushrooms and set aside for later use

·         Peel the mushroom caps (yes, they can and should be peeled – this keeps them from being too wet during cooking – see the photo and video below)

Peeling the mushroom caps.

·         Wash the mushrooms stems well, and chop coarsley

·         In a large skillet, add the sausage, onion, and chopped mushroom stems and cook while mixing together well with a fork (crumble the mixture up with a fork as you mix) and cook over medium heat until the sausage is no longer pink, but not browned.

·         Drain off any excess fat, remove from heat and let cool

·         Add cream cheese to the sausage mixture and mash well with a fork until well blended

·         Add the Parmesan and mix well again

·         Spray a large baking dish with non-stick oil or butter spray

·         Place the mushroom caps in the baking dish, and fill with the sausage mixture until over-full (you’ll want these really stuffed and mounded well – about 1 tbl. of filling for each mushroom cap)

·         Sprinkle the top of each stuffed mushroom with a light dusting of Paprika

Ready for the oven.

 ·        Position the oven rack in the upper-third of the oven

·         Pre-heat oven to 350°

·         Bake the mushrooms for about 15 minutes, then broil for another 3 minutes on high

·         Let cool a few minutes before serving.