Qualifier: These are stuffed mushrooms made for vegetarians, not mushrooms stuffed with vegetarians…
I was having a small get-together with my best girlfriends. Two of the attendees, Emma and Aimee are vegetarian.
Remember, way back, when saying someone was vegetarian was tantamount to saying they were communist, or a nudist– you’d sort of say it in a whisper and glance to the side. Anyway, I wanted to make something my vegetarian friend could enjoy, as well as the other guests.
To impart that fabulously sausage flavor to the vegetarian stuffed mushrooms, I decided to try Morning Star Farms breakfast sausage crumbles.
They turned out great; sausagey, savory, mushroomy– everything one could want from a stuffed mushroom.
Olive oil
18 medium button or cremini mushrooms, stems detached and minced
1 pat butter
1 medium shallot, minced
Dash of dried thyme
Freshly cracked, black pepper
1 cup Morning Star Farms vegetarian breakfast sausage crumbles (thawed or frozen)
12 Ritz crackers, crushed
2-3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese or Parmesan (whichever you like)
1) Toss the mushroom caps in a thin, steady drizzle of olive oil– do not saturate. Set aside.
2) Over medium heat, sauté the shallot and minced mushroom stems in butter, until soft then add in the thyme, pepper and sausage. Sauté until cooked and hot (just a monute or two).
3) Remove from heat and add in the cracker crumbs, then stir in cheese and mix to melt. Stuff the mushroom caps with this mixture and either set in the fridge until ready to bake (up to 6 hours) or bake immediately.
Bake in a pre-heated oven, at 400F until the mushrooms go soft, about 20 minutes.
they were amazing!