My most recent project was stuffed mushrooms. I tried a recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs and it came out just.... blah. The flavor was off, it tasted bland, and I wasn't impressed. I tried it again over Christmas, this time with my own variations, and holy wow... those suckers were freaking fantastic! I made them again for a family get-together at home of Rad Boyfriend's Dad and they were ever better than last time. I impressed even myself, which is pretty difficult to do. Here's the recipe, if anyone is interested in the most fantastic stuffed mushrooms ever. Note: it looks long and complicated, but it's not. I just like giving detailed directions =)
Goat Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms 24 oz. (3 packages) white mushrooms
10 oz. goat cheese
2-3 oz.cream cheese
(or 12 oz. goat cheese and no cream cheese)
(or 12 oz. goat cheese and no cream cheese)
2-3 oz. Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
1 egg
3/4 lb. bacon, diced
2 large shallots, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced or zested
3 tbsp. of finely chopped fresh parsley
olive oil to grease the baking sheets
- Preheat the oven to 350. Remove the egg and all of the cheeses from the fridge and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
- Rinse the mushrooms and pat them dry. Remove the stems and set them aside. Carve out the inside of the mushrooms with a butter knife to make room for the stuffing. Discard the insides. Finely chop about 2/3 of the mushrooms stems and set aside. Discard the rest.
- Stack 3 slices of bacon at a time and trim the fat. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Repeat until all of the bacon is chopped. Set aside.
- Finely dice the shallots and set aside.
- Cook the bacon in an un-greased frying pan until it just starts to turn brown. Don't let it get too crispy, as the texture won't meld with the rest of the stuffing.
- Remove the bacon from the frying pan using a slotted spoon, leaving the grease in the pan.
- Throw the shallots in the bacon grease and cook on medium-high for about 3 minutes, or until they start to turn clear. Add the chopped mushroom stems and stir until the mushrooms start to soften and turn brown.
- Zest 3 gloves of garlic into the frying pan and stir for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is soft. (You can also finely dice the garlic instead of zesting it.)
- Empty the entire contents of the frying pan into a medium-sized bowl, grease and all. Stir in the softened goat cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and egg. Add the bacon and stir. *If the mixture is too salty for your taste, add some more goat cheese or cream cheese to cut the salt.
- Add the parsley at the very end and stir.
- Generously fill each mushroom top with a tablespoon.*There will likely be some leftover stuffing. The amount left over will depend on how deep you carve out the mushrooms. You can fill as many mushrooms as you have with the leftover stuffing, or fill one giant Portobello mushroom with the remainder.
- Grease 2 baking sheets with olive oil.
- Place the stuffed mushrooms on the greased baking sheets and generously sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, or until the desired consistency of the Parmesan cheese topping is reached. Some people like it to be crispy, other like it melty. For crispy tops, turn the broiler on for 2-3 minutes or until the tops are brown.
*Another way to achieve a little crispiness is to add panko breadcrumbs to the stuffing mixture. I would recommend about 1/2 cup. Follow the rest of the recipe as written, then make sure to turn the broiler on for 2-3 minutes for a crispy top.
Enjoy!
