Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms are one of my favorite appetizers -- when my mom makes them. So often I encounter stuffed mushrooms with dry, overly bread-y stuffings or strange seafood stuffings, but the mushrooms I grew up eating always had a flavorful stuffing of spinach and ground pork with just the right amount of bread crumbs and a healthy dose of Parmesan.

Over the years, I've taken my mom's recipe and made little tweaks to it, making it my own. I like to add sausage to it, and I usually pulse my stuffing in the food processor to make it easier to stuff.

I've never shared this recipe before because I've never stopped to measure out my ingredients or write down times for anything, and I usually end up calling my mom to ask for advice while I'm shopping for my ingredients or preparing my stuffing.

Finally, I made this recipe taking notes along the way. The only thing I can't show you is a picture of the finished mushrooms because I brought them with me to Jeff's parents' house for a Thanksgiving appetizer and forgot to take pictures after they were baked. I'll let you imagine how incredible they looked though!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 (10-ounce) packages white mushrooms
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
4 ounces ground pork
4 ounces pork sausage (out of casings, or casings removed)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
5 ounces baby spinach

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Clean and stem mushrooms, reserving about 15 stems. (Don't worry if you break some of the mushroom caps and can't use them; you'll still end up with plenty of stuffed mushrooms.) Place mushroom caps in baking dishes. Halve mushroom stems.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and mushroom stems. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté, stirring frequently until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in meats, and cook until no longer pink.

Stir in bread crumbs and Parmesan, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add spinach, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until spinach begins to wilt, about 2 minutes.

Stir mixture, and season with salt and pepper if needed (taste it and adjust seasonings to suit your tastes).

Let mixture cool slightly, and then transfer mixture to bowl of food processor. Pulse 5 to 7 times. Then transfer stuffing to a bowl.

Divide filling among mushroom caps, stuffing generously.

Bake mushrooms for about 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender and filling starts to brown, keeping in mind that cook time will depend on the size of the mushrooms. (If the mushroom tops start getting too brown before mushrooms are cooked, cover them with foil.)

If preparing mushrooms a day ahead of time, let filling cool completely before stuffing mushroom caps. Wrap stuffed, uncooked mushrooms with plastic wrap and store in fridge until ready to bake. Then remove plastic, and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

I absolutely love these stuffed mushrooms. They incorporate so many flavorful ingredients, and I think they're pretty easy to make. The pork and sausage make them hearty and filling as far as appetizers go. And the spinach gives them just a touch of color.

What are some of your go-to appetizers?