Every Thanksgiving I make my favorite stuffed mushrooms. I can't ever decide which recipe I like the best, so I always make both. It can be tedious working with individual mushrooms, BUT I always make the bacon/sausage and do all the chopping in advance to save time. Clams and clam juice are the secret ingredients! You can omit if you want, but they add a rich depth of flavor, without having a strong fishy taste as you would expect.
Bacon/Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms:
Makes about 25 stuffed mushrooms
* 1 large (16oz) carton mushrooms * 7 slices bacon * 4oz cream cheese * 1/2 onion * finely diced 6.5oz minced clams in clam juice (you will use 2 TBSP of the clams and 3 TBSP of the clam juice) * salt and pepper (to taste) * 1 clove minced fresh garlic (or use 1/2 tsp garlic powder) * 1/4 C. Italian bread crumbs * 3 TBSP graded Parmesan cheese
Cook bacon - reserve bacon grease. Next, finely chop bacon. Clean mushrooms with damp paper towel and remove stems. Finely mince stems. Sauté onion and stems in bacon grease until translucent. Add in bacon bits, clam, clam juice, and seasonings. Remove from heat and melt in cream cheese. Fill each mushroom with cream cheese mixture. Dip top of the filled mushroom in the breadcrumb/parm cheese mixture. Line mushrooms on baking pan. Add a few drops of water in the pan to keep mushrooms from drying out. Bake at 350 for about 30min. Enjoy!
Sausage/Cream Cheese stuffed mushrooms
Makes about 25 stuffed mushrooms
Follow all of the above directions but in place of the bacon use 8oz Jimmy Dean sausage finely browned. Use 1 TBSP of butter to sauté instead of bacon grease.
For both recipes, you will likely have a couple tablespoons leftover filling. You can add a few more mushrooms, or just eat the mixture out of the pan like I do! Share it with a friend on Facebook or Pinterest, and make sure to tell us what you think in the comments below!
