Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms: The Perfect Hors D'oeuvre

I kind of made up the filling for these stuffed mushrooms as I went, and they turned out just wonderfully. I ate a whole plate of them for breakfast (what? yesterday was a busy day in the Kittchen because I had so much produce to use up), but they'd also be a perfect holiday cocktail party hors d'oeuvre.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms 

• 10-12 Baby Bella mushrooms, gently washed, with stems removed
• 1 cup fresh spinach, washed and chopped
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 shallot, sliced thin
• 2 Tablespoons goat cheese
• 2 Tablespoons breadcrumbs*
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Grated parmesan or other hard white cheese to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat (until shimmering). Add shallot and cook until just beginning to brown.

2. Add spinach, breadcrumbs, and goat cheese, and sautée until spinach wilts.

3. Stir in tomato sauce, and add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the mixture into your mushrooms. Each mushroom cavity should be filled with about a teaspoon of filling, and should overflow a bit. 

4. Grate parmesan or other cheese (I used Mizithra cheese) over mushrooms, and bake for about 15 minutes or until mushrooms have just begin to wrinkle a bit (sounds gross, right?).

5. Allow mushrooms to cool for about two minutes, then serve. Pick the crispy bits of cheese off the baking sheet, and eat those, too.





Don't like mushrooms, eh? Just stop it. Try them before you judge. Stuffed mushrooms are probably the best way to train yourself to like mushrooms, because they serve more as a flavorful container than the main flavor of the delicious little bite of heaven. That, and they don't get slimy like some cooked mushrooms can.

*I have a bag of Pepperidge Farm Stuffing that I bought before Thanksgiving in case something went wrong with my homemade stuffing, and I've been using it as breadcrumbs. It is perfect in this recipe, because it adds so much flavor (the source of which I pretend is natural). Another great trick for homemade breadcrumbs/croutons that I learned from my father is to let a few slices of really buttery garlic bread go stale for a few days, and then chop or food-process them. Yum.