I have been so busy over the last few weeks that the thought of creating a big Christmas dinner (rather help my mother) made me feel a bit anxious. Since it was just my parents, my brother and I, we decided to go simple and stick to appetizers. I wanted to create a dish that was simple and quick and had my heart set on stuffed mushrooms- well to be exact Sundried tomato stuffed mushrooms. Not to toot my own horn but I must say they were very delicious.
What you will need:
1/2 ounce dried tomatoes (about 5, not packed in oil)
2 tablespoons olive oil
18 white mushrooms, stems pulled out and chopped fine andcaps reserved
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots & 2 garlic cloves
minced 1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs & 1 large egg yolk, beatenlightly
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, washed well, spun dry, minced 1/2 teaspoon dried basil & crumbled 2 tablespoons freshly
grated Parmesan
Be sure to pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
Lay mushroom caps, stems removed, face down on baking sheet either lightly sprayed with cooking spray or parchment paper. Bake them approximately 5 minutes, or until their liquid puddles underneath.
Remove from the oven. Carefully pour off liquid that has gathered in the bottom of the pan, and then again, carefully, turn mushroom caps over so they are ready to be filled. In a small skillet heat oil over moderate heat and cook finely chopped mushrooms stems, shallots and garlic, stirring until shallots are softened. In a bowl stir together mushrooms mixture, bread crumbs, tomatoes, reserved soaking liquid, yolk, parsley, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mound stuffing mushroom caps and arrange caps in a lightly greased shallow baking dish, or the same parchment-lined pan you’ve roasted your mushrooms in. Recipe says to sprinkle mushrooms with Parmesan but I added a bit of cheese to the cap bottom as well (next time I am going to try Goat Cheese)! Now bake for 15 minutes! This recipe should make roughly 18 bites of goodness.