I just love mushrooms. I love the earthy flavor and the texture. When I was little, I didn’t like them, so I feel like I’m making up for lost time as an adult. And I’m trying my hardest to get my toddler to like them, too (so far, so good- she loved these!). I especially like mushrooms as an alternative to meat in vegetarian recipes. They’re “meaty” and hearty, so they’re the perfect substitute. Chop them up finely to use instead of ground beef (I do this with Greek Spaghetti). Grill up a large portobello mushroom in place of a burger and throw it in a bun. Make stuffed portobello mushrooms as an elegant vegetarian entree. Or, substitute half of the meat with chopped mushrooms in things like meatballs, burgers, or bolognese sauces. Yum! Plus, mushrooms are SUPER good for you– they have vitamin D (so they’re great to eat in the winter when you don’t get a lot of sunshine) and all kinds of important vitamins and minerals. I used small portobello mushrooms for this, but you can use any kind of “stuffable” mushroom you want. Mushrooms that are about 2 inches in diameter work best- anything smaller will be hard to stuff. Oyster mushrooms and the like won’t work, since you can’t stuff them. And although I’ve never tried it, I don’t think this is the right recipe for larger portobello mushrooms, since they will take a lot longer to cook. Be sure to get mushrooms with the stems attached. You’ll actually remove the stems from the mushroom caps, cut off and discard the tough end, and chop up and use the rest of the stem as part of the stuffing. It’s super easy to make the stuffing for these vegetarian stuffed mushrooms. Just sauté the chopped mushroom stems with some finely diced shallots (or onions), minced garlic, and fresh parsley. Don’t turn the heat on too high- you don’t want the garlic to burn or the shallots to brown. You just want the ingredients to soften and their flavors to marry together. After sautéing, mix the mushroom shallot garlic parsley mixture with some breadcrumbs (just a half a cup of either plain or Italian seasoned bread crumbs), oregano (fresh or dried is fine), parmesan cheese (omit if you are making this vegan), and some salt and pepper. It won’t seem like a lot of filling, but since the mushrooms are fairly small, it should be more than enough. Stuff each mushroom as full as you can- press the mixture into each cap and make sure it’s completely stuffed. You might have a bit of extra stuffing, or some might fall out the sides of the mushrooms. Don’t worry about it- any extra that falls off bakes in the pan with everything else, creating deliciously crunchy bits! You won’t want to waste ANY of this delicious stuffing. After stuffing the mushrooms, drizzle them with some olive oil. At this point, you can bake them (covered at first, then uncovered so the stuffing gets nice and toasty). OR – and this is my favorite part about this recipe! – you can throw the assembled vegetarian stuffed mushrooms into the fridge and cook them up to a day later. I love things that can be made ahead of time! One thing I forgot to mention- when you are prepping the mushrooms, there are two ways to clean them. If you choose to wash with water, I do recommend patting dry with a clean towel to get the best roasted texture possible. If you aren’t vegetarian, you could easily add a bit of sausage to the stuffing mix. I’d swap out the breadcrumbs for the sausage and keep everything else as is! If you like this Italian Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms recipe, you’ll love these other vegetarian recipes with mushrooms: Mushroom and Cheddar Omelettes, Mushroom Brie Soup, and Quinoa, Mushroom, and Zucchini Veggie Burgers. I recommend using a deep baking dish for this, and using a high quality extra-virgin olive oil. Here’s the printable recipe! Enjoy :-)
