By Elizabeth Stark
One of the hard things about living in New York City is that anytime you want to do something, there are about 2 or 3 million people who want to do the exact same thing. Long weekend trips, holiday shopping, blockbuster movies, you name it. This is especially true when it comes to Thanksgiving weekend. Getting out of New York on Thanksgiving weekend is unpleasant at best, grueling and torturous at worst. Which is why Brian and I have a tradition of staying in town for the blessedly long weekend. Brooklyn is quiet, and we set to work making a delicious meal for friends and family.
Since Thanksgiving is a standing tradition, each guest brings an item, which mostly stays the same from year to year. My friend Michelle always brings her amazing stuffed mushrooms. We’ve never made them before, but thanks to the magic of the internet, we pieced together a pretty good recipe of our own and made these for a quiet dinner with friends.
These mushrooms are rustic and satisfying with buttery and herbaceous notes. The filling is surprisingly light, with nutty, rich flavor form the pecorino. A classic Thanksgiving appetizer recipe, sure to please everyone at your holiday gathering.
Herbed Stuffed Mushrooms (adapted from The All-New Joy of Cooking)
makes 24 stuffed mushrooms
Ingredients
- 24 cremini or white button mushrooms (24 mushroom caps and 1 cup stems, chopped)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (thinly slice bread, tear into small pieces, and bake at 150 degrees for an hour)
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons shredded pecorino romano
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wipe the mushrooms clean. Carefully remove the stems from the caps. If the stems break and leave only a small space inside the cap use the end of a spoon to dig out a bit more space. Toss the mushroom caps with 1 tablespoon melted butter and set aside in a large glass baking dish.
- In a deep saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add the cup of chopped mushroom stems and the minced shallot, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the splash of vinegar, and then add the breadcrumbs, herbs, reserving some for garnish, zest, salt and pepper, and cook for another 3-5 minutes until the breadcrumbs are soft and buttery. Remove the stuffing from the pan and pulse several times in a food processor.
- Using a small spoon, fill the caps with stuffing. Press the stuffing in with a small spoon. Arrange the stuffed mushrooms on a baking dish, sprinkle each mushroom with a little bit of cheese and bake for 20 minutes, until the juices start to bubble out of the mushrooms. Garnish with herbs and serve immediately. They are also quite good made a few hours ahead of time and then reheated.
