Stuffed Mushrooms: Easy to Impress

I’m always on the lookout for recipes that look and taste fancy, but are actually super easy to make. I’ve also been obsessed with goat cheese and Portobello mushrooms all year, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it and share it with all of you.

These stuffed mushrooms take a little more prep work than your typical weeknight dinner, but they’ll definitely impress your friends – that is, if you can bring yourself to share. I cut the recipe in half, but I’ll use the full amounts here in case you want to make a big batch. These keep for days in the refrigerator and heat up nicely in the microwave, so you could easily make multiple dinners out of this.

Easy Stuffed Mushrooms
Servings: 6 mushrooms

Marinade:

• 6 Portobello mushroom caps, cleaned and stems removed
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme (or 2 big pinches of dried thyme)
• Big pinch of salt and pepper

Stuffing:

• One 10-ounce box of frozen spinach, thawed
• 1 pound of button mushrooms, plus stems from Portobello mushrooms
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 ounces goat cheese
• 6 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. After cleaning and removing the stems from the Portobello mushrooms, place them in a dish gill side up. Pour the marinade over the mushrooms and refrigerate. You can let the marinade sit for up to four hours, but I left mine for about an hour, which was plenty. After they’re finished marinating, transfer them to a baking sheet, gill side down. Don’t worry about any excess marinade left behind. Roast the mushrooms in oven at 400 F for about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, chop the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Sauté these ingredients in olive oil over medium heat until mushrooms begin to soften. Let it cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.  Squeeze excess water out of the spinach by using a paper towel, chop and then add to the mixture. Lastly, crumble the goat cheese with your fingers and stir in with the rest of the ingredients.

When the mushrooms are ready, flip them over and put a mound of stuffing on each mushroom cap. Sprinkle each stuffed mushroom with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Return them to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes until they are heated through and the cheese is melted. Remove and enjoy!

Although this initially seems like a lot of work, it’s quite easy and I had a lot of the ingredients on hand already. I made this recipe on a weeknight and had no trouble at all; the extra chopping is completely worth the delicious outcome. These mushrooms look amazing and taste even better.