Tapas - Stuffed Mushrooms

You must have thought that I had forgotten the tapas recipes I promised at the beginning of the year.  Well, I didn't.  It's just that with the extreme weather we had this winter and the extreme heat we had this summer things just had to go in another direction.  But here we are, it's Fall, the store shelves are full of mushrooms and it's definitely time for another forgotten hors d'oeuvre, or tapas, that we used to serve all the time but has long been forgotten.

There is another recipe for stuffed mushrooms in my country blog which you might also want to check out.

 The stuffing in step 1 can be made up to a day ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.



Makes 4 dozen


Ingredients


3 ounces day-old white bread (about 3 slices), crusts removed

2 scallions, white and light-green parts only, roughly chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped

3 ounces fresh goat cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 ounce dry Monterey Jack or Parmesan, grated on small holes of box grater

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

48 button mushrooms (about 1 1/2 pounds), stems removed and caps cleaned

Directions

Pulse the bread in the bowl of a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Place the scallions, bell pepper, and goat cheese in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until finely chopped and well combined. Transfer mixture to the bowl with the bread crumbs, and stir. Stir in the cilantro, half the grated Monterey Jack, salt, and pepper.

Heat oven to 350 degrees; position rack in the center of oven. Place mushroom caps, cups facing upward, on a large cookie sheet. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of stuffing mixture into each cap. Bake until mushrooms are tender and filling is hot, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove mushrooms, turn oven to broil, and position rack about 4 inches from broiler. Sprinkle mushrooms with remaining grated cheese, and broil until cheese is golden, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.