Stuffed Mushrooms

One of the great things about this blog is that I am constantly trying new recipes. Another great thing is that people always feel like they have to go out of their way when having us over for dinner, which is nice, but also a curse because I don't want people to feel stressed about having us over for dinner. Even more so I don't want to not receive an invitation for a dinner because someone thinks their cooking isn't up to snuff. Because the truth of the matter is we have plenty of very simple meals at our house, occasionally I even resort to frozen pizza.

So the other night we were invited to a dinner party and were asked simply to bring drinks. However, I felt inclined to bring a little something else, nothing too fancy, just something to add to the buffet. So I perused my refrigerator, a few online sites of some favorite chefs, and came up with stuffed mushrooms. Not too complicated, but always a favorite at any party. I even found the Pecorino Romano that the recipe calls for at my local grocer, however, it was a bit pricey, so you could always opt for another hard cheese such as Parmesan.

Stuffed Mushrooms
Recipe from Giada De Laurentiis
Pictures by Caroline

Ingredients
1/2 cup Italian-style dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
28 large (2 1/2-inch-diameter) white mushrooms, stemmed

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Stir the bread crumbs, Pecorino Romano, garlic, parsley, mint, salt and pepper, to taste, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium bowl to blend.
3. Drizzle a heavy large baking sheet with about 1 tablespoon olive oil, to coat. Spoon the filling into the mushroom cavities and arrange on the baking sheet, cavity side up. Drizzle remaining oil over the filling in each mushroom. Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated through and golden on top, about 25 minutes. Serve.

Note- You want to pack the stuffing into the mushroom a bit, but don't overstuff because the mushrooms will shirnk a bit during the cooking process.