Baked Stuffed Mushrooms (& Friends)
I made baked stuffed mushroom caps to accompany prosciutto and smoked mozzarella on my antipasti platter. That’s them in the front of the plate.
Stuffed mushrooms are quick and easy to make and pack a lot of flavor. Serve them hot out of the oven or at room temperature. Parmigiano, garlic, parsley and EVOO flavor the breadcrumbs and the grated cheese creates a golden crust on top of the mushroom caps. Every bite is a zesty and crunchy delight. Sometimes I can’t help myself. I stuff the whole cap in my mouth and eat it in just one bite.
You can add the stuffed mushroom caps to almost any antipasti platter you create. The caps are a compact package that you can even pass around as your arriving dinner guests sip on a bubbly prosecco.
So what’s that other stuff in the photo?
I had breadcrumbs left over so I stuffed an artichoke and a couple of baby heirloom tomatoes and sprinkled the remaining flavored breadcrumbs on red bell peppers and baked them too. They each have their own special texture and taste and they are all delicious and I wanted to show you them all.
Use the artichoke as a first course. Add the roasted stuffed tomatoes and red bell peppers sprinkled with the flavored breadcrumbs to an antipasti platter or serve them as a vegetable side dish with lunch or dinner. I tell you how to handle the peppers and tomatoes in the recipe below. If you don’t know how to clean an artichoke, watch me do it. It’s fun.
Be sure to keep this versatile flavored breadcrumb recipe around. You’ll use it often with roasted vegetables or as a light topping for baked fish or roasted chicken.
Buon appetito!
Baked Stuffed Mushrooms (Funghi Ripieni Al Forno)
Ingredients
- 12 large white button or crimini mushrooms
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons EVOO
- 1/3 cup water
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cooking Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Break off the mushroom stems to create a pocket in the caps for the stuffing.
- Chop the stems into small pieces.
- Put the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, garlic, parsley and sea salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well.
- Add the EVOO to the other ingredients and mix well. The breadcrumb mixture should resemble very wet sand.
- Stuff the mushroom cap loosely.
- Put the caps in a baking dish. Sprinkle with more grated cheese and EVOO to help develop a crust on top.
- Add the water to the bottom of the baking dish. You just want to cover the bottom of the dish with the water just touching the caps.
- Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
- Bake for about 15 minutes until the mushrooms give off their water and are tender.
- Uncover the dish and bake for another 10 minutes to form a golden crust.
- Serve hot or at room temperature.
- Stuffed Tomato
- Cut off the top of 4 large heirloom tomatoes and gently squeeze out the seeds.
- Make the stuffing according to the mushroom recipe. (Of course your will not have any chopped mushroom stems.)
- Stuff the tomato loosely with the breadcrumbs.
- Bake the tomatoes the same as with the mushroom caps except bake them the whole time uncovered until they soften and the crust is golden about 20 minutes.
- Red Bell Peppers Sprinkled with Bread Crumbs
- Cut 4 large peppers in half and then in half again. Remove the stem, white membranes and seeds.
- Make a half-recipe of the mushroom stuffing. (Of course you will not have any mushroom stems.)
- Sprinkle the top of the pepper strips with the breadcrumb mixture. Drizzle the pepper strips with EVOO and sprinkle some more grated cheese on top.
- Bake using the same method as the mushroom caps until the peppers are soft and the breadcrumbs are toasted.