Stuffed Mushrooms

It has been a long hiatus from my blog, no I didn't stop cooking -in fact, if you ask me I have done some of my best and most creative cooking during this time period. I however had a small problem with my camera which prevented me from taking photos and well I just didn't feel like posting recipes without pictures. But I have finally freed myself of that thought or rather what has freed me and pushed me into posting again is this quote from William Denton "Food is to eat, not to frame and hang on the wall." So I say touche to that and am back with a post on Stuffed Mushrooms. I have been meaning to make them like forever but never got down to making these. This time however, when I picked up this big box of mushrooms on my regular grocery trip I had decided then and there that a good part if not all of these mushrooms were gonna be stuffed.

Ingredients

16-20 White Button Mushrooms 

1 Tbsp Finely chopped Garlic

1 Medium White Onion finely diced

1 Jalapeno Pepper finely diced *(Optional but we love it hot)

Handful of Baby Spinach leaves, blanched and chopped fine

2-3 Sundried tomatoes finely diced

2 Tbsp Breadcrumbs

2 - 3 Tbsp Feta Cheese

1 Tbsp Olive Oil 

Fresh Rosemary 

Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Wash mushrooms in cold water and pop out the stems. Chop the stems finely and set aside.

2. Finely dice onion, jalapeno pepper, sundried tomatoes. You can also use a chopper but do chop each ingredient separately.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F.

3. In a saute pan, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. I used this gorgeous rosemary and red-pepper infused EVOO that I picked up on one of our road trips ..

4. Add finely chopped garlic you will need approximately 4-5 garlic cloves and let it become golden brown.

5. To this add chopped onions and jalapeno pepper (if using) cook for 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat till onions start to turn brownish. Now add the chopped mushroom stems and continue cooking for a couple of minutes, then add chopped blanched spinach and sun-dried tomatoes.

6. Season with salt, pepper, fresh rosemary. The mixture should be on the dry side if not cook for a couple more minutes till dry and then turn off the heat. 

7. Once the mixture has cooled a little, add bread crumbs and feta cheese and mix well.

8. Start stuffing the mushrooms with this mixture, smear into the cavity and heap a little on top as well, go on placing these in a baking tray.

9. Bake at 350 F for 18-20 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes before serving.

10. I bite into one and am instantly transported to foodie heaven - an old ad jingle keeps ringing in my ears "ek baar khaoge to khate reh jaoge, No one can eat just one" ;) 

Enjoy !!!

A word of caution: The mushrooms leave out a lot of water, so be careful handling the hot baking tray with hot liquid.