Stuffed Mushrooms with Goat Cheese and Spicy Pork Sausage

Ok so I might have lost some "non-mushroom-friendly" readers after my last few posts that have included mushrooms, but right now I just can't get enough of them!

Over the past few months, I feel like stuffed mushrooms have been everywhere I go. Just this past weekend, we had stuffed mushrooms as an aperitif at a wedding in Ohio. And a few weeks ago we had stuffed mushrooms at a Spanish Tapas restaurant.

When my husband is out of town, I don't typically have as much motivation to cook big intricate meals. With this being his second week out of town, I made these stuffed mushrooms on Sunday after the long drive back from Ohio. (Ironically Maegan and her husband were also in Ohio this weekend, for a separate wedding. Unfortunately though, we were not able to see each other.)

Stuffed Mushrooms
makes 6 (may need to double the ingredients to accommodate more than 2 ppl)

1 Spicy Italian Pork sausage
2 oz or half a small log of Goat Cheese
6 Mushrooms, cleaned
Green onion for garnish

I bought the sausage from Whole Foods, their sausage is really high quality as they make it fresh in house everyday. Additionally it does not contain additives or preservatives which is something I try to stay away from. A couple other reasons I really like buying sausage from Whole foods: 1. there are multiple varieties to choose from (chorizo, turkey sausage, chicken and apple sausage ect.) 2. I can buy as little as one sausage instead of buying pre-packaged sausage of 4-6 links. The one sausage I bought cost $1.67.

Prepare the sausage by removing the casing. Add sausage to a small pan and break up into bite size pieces. be sure not to over cook the sausage as it will continue to cook while in the oven. Set sausage aside to let cool.

Prepare mushrooms by removing the stem.  Take a spoon and remove some of the gills from the inside  of the mushrooms. This will allow more space to put the "stuffing". Once Mushrooms are prepared, place in a small bowl with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly so that mushrooms are appropriately seasoned.

Combine sausage and goat cheese with a fork and mix until well combined. Begin to stuff mushrooms by packing them full, so that stuffing is almost falling out. Cook at 425 degrees for 15- 20 minutes on a wire rack with a drip pan underneath. This will prevent the mushrooms from sitting in any grease from the sausage. I used a cookie wire rack and placed a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch the drippings.

Garnish with green onion and serve!

This aperitif would be perfect for entertaining guests. You can prepare the mushrooms ahead of time and when the guests arrive, simply place them in the oven. You can also cook them over the grill!

Also here is a picture of my husband, Brett, and I at the wedding this past weekend.

Hope you have a wonderful week!