Mushrooms are curious things. Some mushrooms are healthy and delicious and nutritious … and then other mushrooms are quite dangerous.
I have gone mushroom hunting several times. The little shrooms can be quite elusive, and then suddenly you’ll discover a whole field of them. Or not. It’s hard to tell with mushrooms. If you’re going to go hunting them in the wild, though, make sure only to pick the ones you KNOW are safe to eat. I’ve hunted morels, chanterelles, shaggy manes, and a few other stragglers. Morels are by far my favorite. There is nothing like them in the whole world. They are just exquisite.
These aren’t morels or anything I found growing wild. Just some huge mushrooms I saw at the grocery store that were screaming to be taken home and stuffed. They sat neglected in my vegetable drawer for a week, waiting for me to attend to them, pulling at my consciousness with little nags telling me they’re not going to wait forever. Sorry I kept you waiting so long, dear mushrooms. Here, have a nice cheesey-licious stuffing. And some basil.
First you must make this funky cheese mixture. I used this same cheese filling in my Pepperoni Pull Apart Rolls.
Smoky Basil Cheese filling:
- 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded smoked gouda cheese
- 1/2 cup Italian blend shredded cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- A small handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped (about 2 Tablespoons)
Mix the ingredients up in a bowl. I know, it makes more than you’ll need for these mushrooms. Use it on toast or in a sandwich, or toss it into the cheese mixture for a lasagna or some stuffed pull apart rolls. It’s really tasty … I know you’ll find SOMETHING to do with it.
Smoky Blue Cheese & Basil Stuffed Mushrooms
- 8 big mushrooms
- 4 small cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup red onion, peeled
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons blue cheese
- 2/3 cup smoky basil cheese filling
- Fresh sprigs of basil, for garnish
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Carefully pull the stems out of the mushrooms and chop the stems and the garlic and onion into little bits.
- Spray a pan with cooking spray and sautee the onion, garlic, and mushroom stems briefly over medium high heat, then add the wine and cook until the wine has mostly evaporated.
- In a medium bowl, mix the sauteed vegies with the breadcrumbs, blue cheese, and smoky basil cheese filling.
- Stuff the mushroom caps with the cheesy crumb mixture. You can pile it on there a bit.
- Set the stuffed mushrooms on a baking pan and pour 1/4 cup white wine plus 1/4 cup water in the bottom of the pan.
- Bake the mushrooms at 350 for 15 – 25 minutes or until they are nice and hot all the way through.
- Garnish with basil leaves. You may have to use a toothpick to make a little hole in the stuffing to stick in the basil stems. (I did.) Serve them while they’re hot. You can make them ahead of time, store them in the fridge in a covered container, then pop them in the oven just before serving time if you like. You’d have to bake them a little longer, but not too much.
This recipe was shared at Weekend Potluck.
6 comments
Oh my, love that smoky blue…what a treat!
Smokealicious! Or maybe smokeycheesealicious! 🙂 In any case, I do so wish i had some right this red hot minute! Considering how much I love mushrooms in general and stuffed mushrooms in particular, I wonder why I don’t make them more often? I think that’s about to change… YAY! Thanks dear friend for brightening my life! xoxo
P.S. I love, Love, LOVE the fact that your blog is so totally user friendly 🙂
Michele a comment from you always makes my day! You are just the sweetest. Thank you so much … and I’m really really glad you find my blog user friendly because I do pay a lot of attention to that … 🙂
Looks yummy! A perfect little bite! BAM
thank you so much! 🙂
Both variations sound great. I love the blue cheese and basil combo especially. But I never say no to ricotta.