Italian Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms
This fantastic blend of spicy Italian sausage and creamy cheese mixture makes a hearty appetizer for your next hosting occasion, or a sophisticated dinner over pasta or zoodles!
Method Matters. When cooking, it’s no secret….flavor matters. But, as my years of cooking continue, presentation also becomes a bit more important. Stuffed mushrooms are one of my favorites, and I bet I make them a few times a month with various version of the inside, but typically set these all in a pan together and bake, creating a spill over of ingredients resembling more of a casserole than individual bites. While still incredibly tasty and usually scooped over my dinner plate, I thought I’d strive for presentation here. Magic trick? The muffin pan! By placing a large mushroom in each slot, it holds the mushroom in place and eliminates the overflow. If there is extra mixture (as there often is), this makes a great topping for your pasta side dish, or additional mushrooms!
The glue that holds it all together! It’s pretty hard to go wrong with sausage, cheese and herbs. No matter how you cook it, likely it will turn out delicious. Over the years, what I have played with is moisture. Originally, I just used shredded cheese, spinach and herbs, and while delicious, seemed like it wasn’t complete. This is when I began to incorporate the insides of the mushrooms, as they are tender and juicy, and when chopped up finely, act as a great binding element for all other ingredients (not to mention cut down on waste). Recently, I had some leftover ricotta from a lasagna and decided to try a bit added in. Bingo! The creaminess of this cheese was the perfect addition to create a rich stuffing that fills in the caps as a planned filling, not just melted cheese. Worth the trial and error! (I’ll save you the years of guesswork 🙂 ).
Have a great stuffed mushroom recipe? I’d love to hear it! Comment below!!
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Italian Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms
Equipment
- Muffin Tin
- Kitchen knife
- Mixing bowl
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 12 large Baby Bella Mushrooms try to find a package with large mushrooms available for best results. Could also use large caps
- 1 link Italian Sausage or about 1/4 pound ground
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese
- 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2 tbsp Ricotta Cheese
- 1 large Handful Baby Spinach
- 2 tsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Wash mushrooms and remove stems (don't discard!). With a spoon, scoop out insides of mushrooms until a nice 'bowl' is created, and place each mushroom in a muffin slot.
- Finally chop inside of mushrooms and stems and put in a mixing bowl. Option to omit this step, but I find using the rest of the mushroom ties everything together and doesn't waste as much, but personal preference.
- In skillet, saute Italian Sausage (if using a link, slice down the middle to remove casing and cook as ground sausage) into very small pieces. If needed when it cools, chop even finer with a knife until the sausage is about rice size. Add to the mixing bowl with the mushrooms.
- Chop down the spinach into very small pieces and add to bowl, with minced garlic, olive oil, seasonings (Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper), ricotta, mozzarella and about half of the parmesan. Mix well.
- Using a tsp, carefully spoon the mixture into each of the mushrooms. You will likely have leftover mixture. See notes at the bottom.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are starting to brown. Remove and using two spoons, life each mushroom out of the pan. Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese and enjoy!
- Note: As an appetizer, you can fill these mushrooms more full to use the additional mixture, but run the risk of them spilling over and creating an unpleasant looking dish. You can use the remainder of the mushroom package in another batch without adding more of the mushroom interior to create more for the crowd.As a meal, I made zucchini noodles and mixed in the extra mixture, served with some of the mushrooms on top and a side salad. Delicious and easy!
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