Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

A simple mixture of sausage and cream cheese is stuffed into mushroom caps, topped with shredded cheese and baked to golden brown perfection.

Sausage and cream cheese makes a yummy filling, but I like to add a sauteed onion and fresh garlic for a bit more flavor. Sage sausage is delicious in this too.

A delicious variation is to wrap the stuffed mushrooms with a piece of partially cooked bacon. Yowzers! Maybe only enjoy one of these.

Once the mushrooms are topped with cheese and/or wrapped in bacon they go into a hot oven and bake until the mushrooms soften and the cheese browns. 

I never have any of these leftover when I take them to parties. There's just something so tasty about a stuffed mushroom.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Makes 63 

1 medium yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 package ground sage sausage (I used Jimmy Dean)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

4 small packages button mushroom, cleaned with stems removed and chopped.

1 cup mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions

In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add onion and cook until starting to soften. Add garlic, cook 1 minute. Add sausage and cook until evenly browned, breaking up meat as you go. Mix in cream cheese and a 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese and stir until melted and blended.

Place mushrooms in a buttered 13x9 dish and one 8x8 dish. Stuff each mushroom with sausage mixture and top with remaining shredded cheese. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25-35 minutes. Once cheese starts to brown, remove mushrooms and place on a patter. Serve immediately.

Bacon Wrapped Version

Follow all directions, but after stuffing mushrooms with sausage mixture, wrap a half a piece of partially cooked bacon over tops and sides of each mushroom. Secure with a tooth pick and bake according to above directions.

Something to Savor

One of my favorite cookbooks that I turn to over and over again is Marguerite Henderson's Savor the Memories. Marguerite is a local Italian cook who started the charming and wonderful gourmet deli, Cucina, in the Avenues. Now she teaches cooking classes from her home (which are really fun!) and writes cookbooks (among her many culinary endeavors).

All the recipes I've tried from Savor the Memories have been absolutely delicious! They have simple ingredients, they're easy to assemble and the flavors are just amazing. It's a must have cookbook! To visit her website, click here.

One of my favorite recipes from Savor the Memories, is Rigatoni with a Creamy Fontina-Sausage Sauce. The name says it all. This dish is sooo good! The sausage sauce bursts with flavor and the combination of al dente rigatoni noodles smothered in a creamy tomato sauce, topped with fontina cheese and baked until bubbly and golden is to die for. I would recommend this dish anytime. It's always a hit!

Here is the yummy sauce made up of tomatoes, sausage, cream and spices.

After it simmers, it's poured over the rigatoni pasta

Chunks of fontina and freshly grated Romano cheese crown the pasta.

And then it's into the oven...

And 20 minutes later, cheesey, wonderful goodness emerges and is ready to be devoured with a nice salad and bottle of wine.

One of my favorite salads to serve with almost any meal, is a simple tossed salad with a chevre vinaigrette. The dressing recipe comes from my sister-in-law and everyone always loves it and asks for the recipe. There isn't an exact, measured recipe, but I can tell you what goes in it and you'll have to experiment and come up with a version that suits your tastes.

Dressing
Olive Oil
Red Wine Vinegar
Italian seasoning blend
Chevre (creamy goat cheese)
Salt and Pepper

Whisk Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar together (a few Tablespoons of each). Add Italian seasoning (1/2 tsp to 1 tsp). Whisk in chevre to thicken (1 Tbs. or so). Add salt and pepper to taste.

*Next time I make this I'll try and measure the ingredients so I can write down something more concrete.

For the Salad

Mixed greens
Toasted pine nuts or sliced almonds
Chunks of Chevre (left over from dressing)
Optional
Cucumbers, thinly sliced
Tomatoes, diced small
Avocado, sliced
Cranberries

Little Piggy

Forgive the haneous photos, I didn't have adequate lighting.

For the U of U Sugar Bowl game yesterday, I decided to stick with traditional football fare and make some pigs in a blanket. I've never made these before and I didn't have a recipe, but they were pretty straight forward and turned out really yummy.

The first time I tried these were at a super bowl party last year in San Diego. The cook was putting them out by the bowl fulls and everyone was just devouring them. They're so easy to assemble and who doesn't love salty sausage wrapped in dough?

I served mine with honey dijon mustard and BBQ sauce. Very tasty appetizers indeed.

Two pkgs, precooked Hillshire Farm Mini Sausages *
Two pkgs, crescent dough

Unroll dough and press two triangle pieces together at the seam to form a rectangle. Roll out dough slightly; cut into strips. Rinse and pat dry sausage. Roll up each sausage in one strip of dough and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375F for 12-18 minutes or until tops are puffed and golden brown. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

* Found in the bacon section, not the freezer isle.