Party Flavors: Stuffed mushrooms

The party food landscape has become increasingly homogeneous, with its ubiquitous bag of Doritos rather than homemade fudge or stuffed mushrooms. Columnist Erin Nyren would like to bring back the house parties of yore, in which everyone cooked or baked something to share.

Recipes can be found anywhere, as long as you are on the lookout.

I found this week’s recipe in a Walgreens, at the pharmacy counter when I was picking up a prescription with my mom. There was a leaflet on the counter about healthy eating for people with diabetes. Always looking for new – and especially healthy – dishes to try, I paged through it and found a stuffed mushroom recipe from the American Diabetes Association. It caught my attention because it seemed fairly simple, and I had been to catered parties with stuffed mushrooms before and remembered how tasty the meat and mushrooms could be.

Preparing the dish took under an hour, not including bake time. And nothing went wrong.

I bought my mushrooms from Ralphs out of the loose mushroom bin, since the pre-packaged ones were too small to stuff anything into. I chose the biggest ones I could find, but after preparing them, I realized that bigger wasn’t necessarily better because once they are bitten into, they tend to crumble a little. It’s easier to use smaller – but still large enough to stuff – mushrooms so they can be eaten in one large bite.

The first time I tried to remove the mushroom stalk, I just cut the majority of it off, which didn’t prove to be the best method. I tried to use the knife to remove the pieces of the stem that remained attached to the cap, but accidentally sliced straight through the mushroom, cutting it right in half. Luckily, it was the largest one I had bought, so each half was big enough to be stuffed on its own.

After a few more tries, I found the best way to remove the stalk. First, hold the mushroom cap fitted into your palm so that the stem is parallel to the counter. Push the tip of the knife into the base of the stalk as close to the cap as you can get, and apply pressure outward from the cap. The stalks should just pop off. They sometimes leave a bit of the stem behind, but there’s such a small amount that it’s easy enough to remove with the knife.

According to the ADA, the recipe has fewer calories than other stuffed mushroom recipes because it uses low-carb ingredients like lean turkey sausage and reduced-fat mozzarella. If health is important to you, then make sure the turkey sausage is labeled “lean” on the package.

At Ralphs I could only find lean turkey sausage in patty form. Since it was raw, I didn’t need to cut it. Instead, I twisted the patties apart and dropped the meat into the sizzling pan when the time came.

I decided to use my brand new cast-iron frying pan I got for Christmas to cook the stuffing. I highly recommend investing in a cast-iron frying pan or asking for one come your next birthday, because they are extremely versatile, last ages and distribute heat evenly.

The veggies smelled incredible as they sautéed – the sort of smell you want to come home to. At this point I knew I had chosen a great recipe. After I added the turkey sausage to the sauté pan, it seemed to be overwhelmed by the veggies, so I added 2 ounces more meat than the recipe called for. As much as I love veggies, I didn’t want to be left wondering where the meat was.

I took the mushrooms out of the oven about 15 minutes early because they looked done. But as far as I can tell, they didn’t suffer for it. In fact, they were probably one of my favorite foods that I’ve ever made. I’d prefer these over cookies or brownies any day.

The Parmesan and mozzarella cheese, which are added after the stuffing is done sautéing, complemented the sausage, bell pepper and onion, bringing out the nutty flavor of the mushrooms nicely. The balsamic coating the mushrooms caps contributed an unexpected but welcome zing to the mushrooms.

Bear in mind almost any of the ingredients can be swapped out for something similar or left out entirely. The cheese and bread crumbs are important, though, because they help hold the filling together when stuffing the mushrooms. The recipe is also easily adaptable for a gluten-free or vegetarian diet as well by using gluten-free bread crumbs or leaving out the sausage.

I was already planning on eating four for dinner, but after trying them and realizing how amazing they were, I ended up eating three more – I had doubled the recipe. I can quite assuredly say these mushrooms are supremely delicious, especially if you like savory foods. With relatively little energy and time, they deliver a mouthwatering result.

– Erin Nyren

What’s the best food you’ve ever eaten at a party? Email Nyren at [email protected].