Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Sausage stuffed mushrooms are a wonderful appetizer for any occasion.  Mushroom caps are loaded with a combination of Italian sausage, mushroom stems, breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, mozzarella, and Pecorino Romano cheese and baked in a pizza-style tomato sauce until tender.  Be sure to serve with crusty bread to mop up the sauce!

Stuffed mushrooms may just be one of my favorite appetizers of all time.

One reason I love them is that they're so versatile and can be stuffed with any number of ingredients!

These sausage stuffed mushrooms combine pizzaiola flavors, like tomato and oregano, with mozzarella, Pecorino, garlic, and breadcrumbs with Italian sausage. 

This recipe includes different ingredients than my classic Italian stuffed mushrooms recipe, but uses similar techniques and methods.  

These sausage stuffed mushrooms are perfect for the holidays and gatherings, but so good we sometimes just make them for a quiet dinner at home!

How to make it

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. Mince 6 cloves of garlic reserving 2 cloves for the sauce, and 4 cloves for the mushrooms.  Mince ¼ cup of flat-leaf Italian parsley, and grate ½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, and ½ cup of block mozzarella. Empty the contents of 1 28-ounce can of whole plum tomatoes into a large bowl.  Using your hands, crush the tomatoes, and add 2 of the minced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and 1 teaspoon of Sicilian oregano.  Mix well and taste test adding salt and pepper to taste then set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 400f and set the rack to the second highest level.  Clean 2 pounds of white or baby Bella mushrooms and cut off the very end of each mushroom stem and discard.  Carefully remove the remaining piece of the stems.
3. Mince the stems and reserve 1 cup's worth.

4. Heat a large pan to medium and add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 1 pound of bulk hot Italian sausage, or plain Italian sausage if you prefer. Saute the sausage until well browned (about 5 minutes per side), then break it up with a wooden spoon.
5.  Add 1 cup of the minced mushroom stems and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

6. Add ¼ cup of dry white wine and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat to cool.
7. Add a ¼ cup of your tomato sauce along with 1 cup of plain breadcrumbs, the minced parsley, the grated mozzarella, and half of the grated Pecorino Romano.  Mix well and taste test, adjusting salt and pepper to taste.

8. Use a small spoon to gently stuff each mushroom cap.  Any remaining stuffing can be saved for another purpose. Add the remaining tomato sauce to a large baking dish and place each stuffed mushroom on top.  For looks, you can spoon a bit of the sauce onto each cap but it's not necessary.  
9. Sprinkle the remaining Pecorino Romano on top of each mushroom and drizzle with a touch of extra virgin olive oil on top of each mushroom.

10. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender.  If needed, broil for the last 60 seconds to brown the tops.  Then spoon the pan sauce on top of the mushrooms, or serve as is.  Sprinkle some hand-torn basil on top and serve with crusty bread to mop up the sauce.  Enjoy!

Top tips for sausage stuffed mushrooms

• The mushrooms. We used a combination of white button and cremini (baby Bella mushrooms).  If you're able to find large stuffing mushrooms you can use those as well.  I actually prefer the smaller ones because I like the variation in size and they're easier to eat in one bite.
• Mushroom stems. Be sure to remove the very bottom of the mushroom stems.  They can be quite woody and shouldn't be included in your stuffing.  
• Sausage.  We used hot Italian sausage for this recipe, but you can easily use mild Italian sausage as well.  Bulk sausage will help save you time, but if you can only find the links, you can remove the sausage from the casing.  Bulk sausage can be difficult to break up when you're sauteeing it and if this happens, you can simply just remove it from the pan and chop with a knife before continuing.
• Wine. Any dry white wine will work well for mushrooms stuffed with sausage.  We used sauvignon blanc but a pinot grigio would also work well. If you cannot have alcohol, you can omit it entirely.
• Stuffing.  Make sure the stuffing is moist enough to keep the mushrooms moist when cooking.  If the stuffing is too dry, add a little more tomato sauce.

More of our favorite appetizer recipes

In addition to our Italian stuffed mushroom recipe mentioned above, here are a few more of our favorite appetizer recipes.

• Mozzarella en carrozza - mozzarella cheese stuffed between bread that's battered and fried until golden.
• Eggplant caponata - eggplant, pine nuts, raisins, and tomato sauce.
• Stuffed tomatoes - with ricotta salata and parsley.

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