Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFED MUSHROOMS

YIELD about 15-20 mushrooms

INGREDIENTS
15-20 mushrooms, large, about 1 1/2” in diameter
1 tbsp butter
4 tbsp olive oil, approximately
2-3 tsp fresh minced garlic
¼ cup finely minced onion
¾ lb. sweet or hot Italian sausage
1 tbsp homemade pesto or 2 tbsp finely slivered basil leaves
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs, ground very fine
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1 & 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus another few tablespoons for topping
2 tbsp shredded Parmesan

PROCEDURE
Remove the stems from the mushrooms and set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium to medium high heat and add 3 tbsp olive oil. Then add the butter, allowing it to melt. At this point, add the mushroom caps. Toss them in the oil/butter mixture so they are thoroughly coated. Cook until the caps are browned and pliable. Make certain that your heat is high enough to brown them. If it isn’t hot enough, the mushrooms will steam and the flavor will not be nearly as good. Also, don’t overload the pan. It should be one layer of caps. You may have to do two batches, depending on the size of your pan. After they are cooked, remove them from the pan. You can use this same pan to cook the filling. You don’t need to clean it first.

Heat the pan again over medium high heat. Coat it with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and onion. Cook, occasionally stirring, for a few minutes. Then add the sausage, breaking it up so it cooks evenly. Bulk sausage works best, however, Italian link sausage is fine, just remove the casing.

I did not use the mushroom stems in the video, however, you can grind them in a food processor if you choose. Then cook them right with the sausage. Its totally up to you. Season the sausage with salt and pepper. Remove to a large bowl after it has browned and is completely cooked through. If you find there is an excess of sausage grease, definitely drain. Add the marinara, Mozzarella and eggs. It is best to use your hands to mix this with because the sausage may still be in “clumps”. You can wear plastic gloves if you desire. Once it is mixed well, taste it for additional salt and pepper. You can also add more pesto or basil if you so desire. Now add the breadcrumbs and mix in well. Take a tablespoon or so in one hand and squeeze it together. This helps it to bind together. Hold the cap in one hand and place the stuffing on top. It should mound up fairly high. Follow the video if you are uncertain. Top with Mozzarella and/or Parmesan. You can use any oven proof pan to bake them in. Either coat the pan with a little olive oil or marinara sauce.

**these can be made a day ahead of time and chilled.

Preheat oven to 400. Cook for about 10 minutes.

[Music] hello everyone chef Kim here well I’m getting ready to do my 100th video I’m so psyched and anyway I hope you like this one it’s Italian sausage stuffed mushrooms great as a cocktail order or as a meal over pasta so here we go the first thing you want to do is remove the stems from the caps make sure you get good fresh firm mushrooms and about medium sized unless you like giant stuffed mushrooms and then you want to heat your pan put in your olive oil and a little butter the butter just adds some flavor add your mushroom caps and toss them around a little bit so that they get coated completely with the oil butter mixture and then keep the heat on about medium you want them to brown lightly and they’re finished when you can bend them a little bit and at this point go ahead and remove them from the pan and let’s get going on the filling in the same pan over medium-high heat go ahead add some more olive oil and then add your garlic and onions toss those around a little bit let them cook for a minute or two till the onions start turning translucent and then I like to put a little of the dried Italian seasonings right into the pan so toss those in and then add fresh basil and finally add your Italian sausage now I used both use the links just take them out of the casing break it up and cook it you might need to turn your heat down to medium you want it to brown but not overcook and just keep an eye on it once it’s all cooked then you seasoning salt pepper or you can do that before it’s finished cooking and then put it into your bowl and we’ll add the remaining ingredients as we continue I’m showing you how the mushrooms should look and they should be pliable and then I have shredded mozzarella parmesan some beaten egg breadcrumbs now the bread crumbs can be dried up fresh but the important thing is that they’re very fine then I also have some homemade marinara which I have a video showing you how I make mine so you want to add some of the marinara to the sausage at this point and then the mozzarella the egg mix that in your hands really do work the best in mixing this because the sausage still needs to be broken up a little bit more and your fingers do it the best in this video like how I cook all the time I’m not exactly following the recipe so that’s why I’m adding a little more cheese or a little more marinara but I recommend that you follow the recipe that I put in the description box once you feel like the sausage is fine enough after breaking it up of your fingers now you need to add the breadcrumbs use also my technique of squeezing it it should hold together go ahead and squeeze in a mout tablespoon or so in your hand and place it on the mushroom cap you want to kind of push it on there but it’ll stay put once it starts baking in the oven and you can put either a little bit of olive oil down on the bottom of your pan or some of the marinara and then put the mushroom caps on top of that once you get them all stuffed top them with the Parmesan cheese you can also top them with more mozzarella whichever you prefer and then put them in a 400-degree oven it only takes less than 10 minutes you want to brown a little bit people love them everywhere I’ve prepared them so give it a try everyone thanks for joining me for my 100th video and as always happy cooking [Music]