Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

If you haven’t already noticed, I’m posting December’s Barefoot Bloggers’ recipe late…we all know what happens when Christmas is thrown into the middle of the month but I’m happy enough that I made both recipes and got decent photos of them before the end of the month!  If you haven’t yet read my rave about the Croissant Bread Pudding, definitely go back and check it out.  It’s not a recipe that should be passed over.

Turns out that December’s recipes were a challenge for me.  As I mentioned in the bread pudding post, I’ve never been a fan.  Unfortunately, having finicky tastes (read: picky) also rolls over to mushrooms.  Sometimes I can deal with them; oftentimes I can’t. And oddly enough, Kyle feels the same way. Yet another reason why I love that man.  So these mushrooms presented a situation for me…do I make them or skip them?  However, since December seems to be the season of food I figured I’d find somewhere to bring them. And luckily enough, an opportunity presented itself in my new office’s holiday party.

I’ll sum it up.  I made, I brought, they vanished.  AND…I ate them!! And I LURVED them!!  The star of the dish was the stuffing (not the mushroom) which was creamy, full of nice hearty sausage flavor, and there was just a hint of marsala flavor remaining which I absolutely can’t get enough of.  I did make a couple adjustments to the recipe which are noted below (the original recipe is in the link below) but nothing major.  The only issue I had was that there was a lot of liquid creating while baking the mushrooms.  I had to pour a good amount of it off when they came out of the oven because they were almost drowning in it but this issue in no way affected the mushrooms themselves. I also found that they can be made (baked) in advance of any party, refrigerated and just reheated at 350 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes.

So to Michelle of Welcome to the Club, thank you for choosing this recipe and for making me go outside of my box again.  Actually, my office, my in-laws and my family thanks you because I actually made them twice last month…they were THAT good!

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Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms

source: adapted from Ina Garten, How Easy Is That?

Ingredients:

• 16 extra-large white mushrooms (or about 3 dozen medium to large white mushrooms)
• 5 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Marsala wine or medium sherry
• 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from the casings
• 1/4 tsp ground fennel
• 2 large shallots, chopped
• 2/3 cup panko crumbs
• 5 ounces mascarpone cheese, preferably from Italy
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until it’s completely browned. Add the chopped mushroom stems and cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in the ground fennel and shallots and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the panko crumbs, stirring to combine evenly with all the other ingredients. Finally, swirl in the mascarpone and continue cooking until the mascarpone has melted and made the sausage mixture creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Cool slightly.
4. Fill each mushroom generously with the sausage mixture. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish large enough to hold all the mushrooms in a snug single layer. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the stuffing is browned and crusty.

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