I found a copy of Betty Crocker’s Italian Stuffed Mushrooms on my mom’s counter the other day. Oh, how I love stuffed mushrooms, but in the past I never seemed to get the seasonings quite right. Well, I grabbed the recipe and decided to give it a go (action beats standing still any day).
Here is another challenge: to make them without butter or cheese. Note: I very rarely find a recipe that I do not alter and either take away, substitute or add something. This was no exception.
First I separated the stems from mushroom caps. The recipe called for 36 medium fresh mushrooms, but I used only two packs…about 20 or so mushrooms. They were so good that I should have used all three packs I bought. Plus I had left over stuffing. You can also make ahead if serving as appetizers. Just cover and refrigerate.
I chopped up green onions, white onion, red sweet pepper, green pepper, celery stalk and most of the mushroom stems. These were added to a hot pan with a bit of water. No butter or oil needed when sauteing. (I always keep my cruet full of water for sauteing.)My cruet, always filled with water
I must confess, I got to chopping all these veggies and had them piled around my cutting board and completely forgot the garlic. I have a glass dish full of garlic which was left untouched tonight. So, I guess garlic is optional but recommended.
For bread crumbs – I toasted and blended up some , dry pieces of bread I had made last week (saving for breadcrumbs). Have you seen the ingredients in store bought bread crumbs?!? Interesting. That made me want to make my own. Just add a couple of dry pieces of bread to your blender and pulse until you have reached your ideal size. I know the exact ingredients for these bread crumbs and they are much healthier than the store bought ones … no mystery ingredients here.
Next, I mixed the cooked veggies to the bread crumbs and added seasonings, then spooned this mixture into the mushroom caps. I topped each cap off with a sprinkle of “homemade Parmesan cheese“. (Recipe: 1/4 cup nutritional yeast + 1/4 cup cashews + garlic powder to taste — blend all to a powder. Store in a small glass jar and use as you would dairy Parmesan)
Bake caps at 350 for 15 minutes then broil on high for 2-4 minutes. Be sure to watch them at this point to prevent burning.
I served this as a side dish with some field peas I put up this summer, sauteed okra from my garden, pan seared zucchini spears from my dad’s garden and whole wheat rolls I made today. Yummy!!!
Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms
Stuffed Mushrooms
- 36 whole fresh mushrooms (1 pound)
- water for sauteing
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1/2 white onion chopped
- 1 small red sweet pepper chopped
- 1 small green bell pepper chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic (optional but recommended)
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp Tony’s
- 1 tsp Season salt
- pepper to taste
- Homemade Parmesan for sprinkling on top (see recipe above)
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Separate stems from mushroom caps. Finely chop mushroom stems to measure 1/3 cup. Reserve mushroom caps.
- To a hot skillet add onions, peppers, celery and garlic. Add some water to keep from sticking. Cook until white onions are soft.
- To bread crumbs add seasonings and cooked vegetables.
- Fill caps with filling. Sprinkle with Homemade Parmesan. Place mushrooms (filled side up) in stone or glass casserole dish.
- Bake 15 minutes. Broil 2-4 minutes. Serve hot.The extra stuffing made nice Stuffed Banana Peppers and Bell Peppers.
Let me hear your comments and variations to the this recipe below.
April
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