Mushrooms make me happy. It seems there are two clear camps of either mushroom lovers or haters and not really anyone in the middle. I’m firmly in the mushroom lover camp. My favorite story to tell to embarrass my daughter is how, as a young child, she would sneak 8 oz. containers of mushrooms out of the fridge and eat the entire thing. On multiple occasions, it threw off the dinner plans of Sausage Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms for the night when I expected there to be a package of mushrooms in the fridge and they had been filched.
I have also kids that are in the mushroom hater camp which means that there are certain dishes that I don’t make when they are around. Stuffed mushrooms is one of these dishes. Since I enjoy mushrooms so much, I came up with this recipe with a cheesy sausage mixture stuffed into the large portabella. Just one cap will fill me up. Add a simple green salad on the side and dinner is done.
There may be some confusion between whether the proper term is portobello or portabella, so I did some research and discovered that there is a mushroom council (a quasi-official group) who decided to go with portabella with two a’s, for consistency. So what is a portabella mushroom? And what is the difference between a basic white button mushroom, a small brown mushroom, and the big flattish portabella mushroom?
In North America, there are over 200 species of the Agaricus genus of cultivated mushrooms. In botanical terms, the small brown mushroom also called crimini or baby Bella and the larger portabella mushroom are the same. Once the crimini gets to be more than 4” in diameter and the feathery skin around the stem pulls away and exposes the gills it is deemed to be a portabella.
Interesting enough, in a bed of Agaricus, the first crop will produce white mushrooms. But if the successive crops or fruiting bodies (what mushrooms are) are not picked in the small button stage, the fungi will become brown and the gills with darken. Because the bed is older, these brown mushrooms are more flavorful and earthy than the white mushrooms picked from the same bed. However, historically these portabellas used to be discarded rather than sold because growers feared there would not be a market for the oversized brown mushrooms.
When choosing fresh white or brown mushrooms, look for firm mushrooms with the gills covered. These mushrooms are fresher. They should not look dry and shriveled or wet and slippery. Portabella mushrooms will have exposed gills around the stem. Look for an even gill cap and unbroken edges which also indicate freshness.
Store mushrooms in the refrigerator in a paper bag to allow the air to circulate. They should keep for about a week.
Since mushrooms are basically sponges, don’t immerse them in water to clean them, Instead, wipe off any dirt with a slightly damp paper towel just before using them.
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Sausage Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: main dish, appetizer
- Method: baked
Description
Portabella mushrooms are the perfect vessel for an herb sausage filling. This recipe is even more wonderful when the mushrooms have a quick marinade to enhance the flavors.
Ingredients
- 4 portabello mushrooms
Sausage Stuffing
- 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage (mild or hot)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon green onion, chopped
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- 6 butter crackers, crushed
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
Marinade
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- Carefully remove the stems and clean the top of the mushrooms with a slightly damp paper towel. Using the side of a spoon, scrape away the dark gills on the underside of the mushroom cap.
- In a zip-close bag, mix all the ingredients listed under marinade. Place the portabello mushrooms in the bag and let them marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a skillet, brown the sausage over medium-high heat. Remove the sausage from the pan, in the remaining grease, sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and green onion to the pan and cook for one minute.
- Return the sausage to the skillet and add the cream cheese, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese, the crushed butter crackers, and parsley to the pan and stir until combined and the cream cheese is completely melted.
- Set the skillet aside to cool.
- Remove the mushrooms from the marinade and carefully blot dry. Add 1 tablespoon of the marinade to the skillet and stir to incorporate. Discard the remaining marinade.
- Carefully mound the sausage mixture into each mushroom cap making sure not to break the edges. Top with the remaining parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove and cool for 5 minutes and serve.
Notes
You can easily convert this recipe to an appetizer by swapping out the portabella mushrooms for the smaller crimini mushrooms. Just remove the stem and mound with the sausage stuffing. Top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and bake for 8-10 minutes. Serve warm.
These mushrooms can also be grilled or smoked. Preheat grill to medium-high or set the smoker to 275°F and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly (about 15-20 minutes for portabella mushrooms or 10-12 minutes for baby Bellas).
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