Pesto Cream Cheese Stuffed Crimini Mushrooms

Pesto Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms.

These make for a nice appetizer or finger food for a party. This recipe is from Channel 14's Johnson and Wales Culinary Institute.


Pesto Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
(Number of Servings depends on how big your mushrooms are)
INGREDIENTS
One 8 oz. package white button or cremini mushrooms (I used cremini.)
2 oz. olive oil
Salt and pepper to season mushrooms (I omitted the salt.)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 oz. prepared pesto
2 oz. grated parmesan cheese
2 oz. prepared bread crumbs (I used Panko bread crumbs.)
PROCEDURE
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash mushrooms and pat dry. Remove stems. Drizzle mushroom caps with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place mushrooms on baking sheet, and bake for 5 minutes to par cook the mushrooms. If any liquid ends up in the caps, pour it off before continuing. Pat dry.

Drizzle mushroom caps with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with fresh ground black pepper.

Mix together cream cheese and pesto.

2. While the mushrooms are par-cooking, mix together the pesto and cream cheese. Fill the caps with a sizeable dollop of the mixture. Top the mushrooms with grated parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.

Par cooked mushrooms.

Place a dollop of cream cheese mixture in each cap, top with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.

3. If preparing ahead for a party, stop here and refrigerate the mushrooms. When ready to serve, bake mushrooms in 375°F oven until browned and bubbly on top (should be 5-8 minutes - less time if prepared straight through without having to account for the chill from the fridge).

Out of the oven and ready to serve.

These are easy and very tasty.