Crimini Criminals!

I've been thinking about stuffed mushrooms for about 2 months. My fungi fantasies can be traced by to a fateful afternoon when Tanya and I visited one of our favorite eateries: Portabla. Discovered two years ago by Poin, Portabla has been a regular on our Austin go-to's. Their paninis are inspiring and the chicken salad is the best I've ever tasted. Anyways, I am digressing. On this glorious afternoon, John, one of the owners, was preparing a tapas plate for a catered event. He had a spare stuffed mushroom that he generously let me taste.... and I was hooked.

Fast forward 2 months, and I created my own delectable darlings. These would be great to take a party as an appetizer!

Spinach and Feta stuffed Crimini Mushrooms

Ingredients

3 shallots diced
1 clove of garlic minced
14 Crimini mushrooms, caps & stems
1 big handful of fresh spinach leaves (substitute with thawed frozen spinach)
1.5 ounces of feta (I used Bulgarian from Central Market, only $2.00 for a whole block!)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350.

Remove the stems and dice. Saute on stems on medium/high heat with shallots and garlic for 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add spinach leaves and cover pan with a lid to wilt the leaves. Then saute together until spinach is cooked.

In a food processor, mix together sauted items and feta cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Cover a baking tray with parchment paper and place mushroom caps. Fill each cap with spinach feta mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes.



*These can be made ahead of time and served at room temperature. I warmed them in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes and served. Yum!

After reflecting, Poin & I decided that they were pretty "f***ing" good, but could possibly benefit from sage and..... pancetta. Mmmm. pork.