Today was my department’s holiday party at school. There was a huge spread–8 trays of fried chicken, 3 platters of ham, 3 of mac and cheese–and it included some homemade dishes too. I decided to make these stuffed portobello mushrooms (appetizer sized) and forgot to take a picture of them! So I’ve yanked the one from Giada De Laurentiis’ recipe on Foodnetwork.com:

Stuffed Mushrooms

These stuffed mushrooms are soooo good!! I’ve made them with large portobello caps once before, and they could honestly be an entree by themselves as opposed to the appetizer Giada suggests. For the holiday party, I found smaller “stuffer-sized” portobello caps, and they came out great.

The stuffing is unusual in that it actually incorporates meat, while most mushroom stuffings are just breadcrumbs/veggies. I found some spicy turkey sausage which I removed the casings from (yuck) and cooked in a large skillet with garlic. Giada’s touch is shown with the addition of mascarpone cheese (sort of an Italian cream cheese) to the cooked turkey. It makes the mixture super creamy and adds some liquid to help with binding the stuffing together later. You then add in copious amounts of thyme and oregano, along with bread crumbs and my favorite part of the recipe, Gorgonzola cheese. Although it seems like a lot of herbs, the flavor is perfectly balanced in the end. One thing I’d watch though is the salt level. The recipe suggests salting both the mushroom caps and the stuffing, but the cheese is quite salty on its own so be sure to taste before seasoning.

Next, the mushroom caps need to be grilled. I use my trusty grill pan for this, though a gas or charcoal grill would be fabulous. Then, simply top the mushrooms with stuffing and a little more cheese and place back on the grill (or under the broiler–much easier) until the cheese is melted. So delicious!!

Grilled and Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Gorgonzola
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis, 2008

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time:20 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
• 12 ounces turkey sausage, casings removed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano leaves
• 3/4 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 cup (4-ounces) Gorgonzola
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
• 6 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed

Directions
Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the turkey sausage and cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the mascarpone cheese. Add the thyme, oregano, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of Gorgonzola, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir until all ingredients are combined.

Brush the mushrooms on both sides with the remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the mushrooms, stem side down, for 3 minutes. Turn the mushrooms over and grill for 2 minutes until tender. Fill each mushroom with the sausage mixture and top with the remaining Gorgonzola. Return the mushrooms to the grill and cook until the stuffing is warmed through and the Gorgonzola starts to melt, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Cook’s Note: The assembled mushrooms can also be placed on a baking sheet and cooked under a preheated broiler until warmed through.