Cheese & Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

This recipe was originally posted as an appetizer. However, I thought it would translate nicely into a dinner. Although it is a rich dish, you could tone it down with a spinach salad on the side. Maybe only 1/2 a mushroom cap for each person and something green and leafy.

Or, you can just eat it as a meal like we did. Whatever, it’s good either way!

Ingredients:

4 large portobello mushroom cups
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 lb sweet italian sausage
1 (8oz) package of cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray – I actually lined my pan with foil first. 

Clean mushroom caps with a damp paper towel. Remove the stems and gills, discard.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and crumble italian sausage. Cook until sausage is browned and set aside to cool.

When mixture has cooled, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture will be thick. Spoon mixture into each mushroom cap and arrange on baking sheet.

At this point, I actually only cook two mushroom caps and freeze the other two for later. 

Bake in oven for 20 minutes, until liquid starts to form underneath the caps. Serve hot!

The original recipe served this dish as an appetizer, cutting the mushroom cap into smaller bites. We actually each one cap as an main course meal. Serve with a spinach salad or something else light. 

Enjoy!

To cook from frozen, preheat to 350. The time will be longer from frozen, but the rule is to cook until the liquid forms.

Source: joelens.blogspot.com