Sweet and Savory Stuffed Mushrooms...

I believe I mentioned previously that I’ve never been a fan of the mushroom, and yet I’ve been working on trying to overcome this distaste. I’m always on the search for a new way to dress up and incorporate mushrooms into my food without feeling too overwhelmed by them. I’ve had a few hits and a lot of misses but, this recipe in particular I think goes a long way in helping to increase my affection for fungi. This recipe originated as a crust I used to encase large Portobelo mushrooms before baking. It works wonderfully that way, and has a texture reminiscent of breaded chicken.

But, it wasn’t until I was scrambling to find an acceptable stuffed mushroom recipe for the graduation party that I decided to try it as a stuffing instead. My thinking being that if it tasted good on the outside of a mushroom it stood to reason that it would taste great on the inside of a mushroom as well. Turns out I was right, and the mushrooms were a big hit, even with me. They’re not too mushroomey or too chewy, and they have a wonderful blend of sweet, and savory with a hint of garlic, onion, and salt. If even I, the most skeptical of mushroom eaters, enjoyed them then I’m sure you will as well.

Sweet and Savory Stuffed Mushrooms

Roughly 24-30 Baby Portobelo Mushrooms

Filling -

2 C Pecans
4 Tbsp Agave Nectar
4 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
4 Tbsp Italian Style Bread Crumbs (Whole Wheat Preferably)
4 Tbsp Earth Balance
1/2 C Chopped Green Onions
Sea Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

- Pre-heat oven to 400'F (204'C) Remove stems from mushrooms and discard.

Note - Instead of throwing them into the garbage consider putting them into a zip-lock bag or container and keeping them to chop and add to rice dishes, soups or stir-fry’s. Or freeze to use later for making your own soup stock. Or as my husband does you can simply eat them then and there.

- Run mushrooms under cold water, then very gently rub dry with paper towel or cloth to remove dirt, and grime. Set aside.

- To make filling place all ingredients into food processor and pulse until completely broken down, and combined. The mixture should resemble a paste or dough.

Note - If you have a very small food processor as I do you may need to do this in batches. Half the recipe and make it in two stages.

- Once filling has been made, gently stuff into your de-stemmed mushrooms.

- Place mushrooms on a greased cookie sheet, and bake in oven for roughly 20 minutes. Until mushrooms have softened and darkened, and filling is golden on top.

- Enjoy as an appetizer or a side dish.

Note - If your breadcrumbs of choice contain salt, or have a distinctly salty nature you may want to omit the sea salt. Also the filling recipe makes a fair amount, so if you have extra mushrooms you can stuff them as well. If you don’t have extra mushrooms you can save the filling, buy more mushrooms and make them the next day. (As I did) or you can simply over-stuff your mushrooms. Either way I’m sure the excess filling won’t go to waste.