Chorizo Stuffed Mushrooms

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At the beginning of summer I went with friends from college to a little town east of Seattle called Leavenworth.  For those of you that don’t live in Washington, Leavenworth is a cute little Bavarian themed village with a bunch of shops, restaurants and bars.  One of the nights we had dinner at a restaurant in town that had all kinds of tasty looking appetizers.  I ordered mushrooms stuffed with Chorizo and they were amazing!  I’ve been meaning to create my own version at home and finally have 🙂

Let’s get to the mushrooms!

First things first- preheat the oven.

We’ll start by par-cooking the sausage and onions.  The main reason we are cooking them is to cook off some of the fat in the Chorizo.  I tried stuffing mushrooms with raw chorizo and they ended up being a greasy mess.  Make sure you get the raw chorizo that looks sort of like hamburger (but more orange due to the Paprika in it), not the kind that’s already smoked and ready to eat.  You should be able to find it in the meat department or deli section of your local supermarket. We’re going to cook the chorizo and onion over medium heat until you can see the fat pooling in the pan, probably about 5 minutes.

Put several pieces of paper towel on a large plate.  Now we’re going to strain the sausage and put it on the paper towel-covered plate to catch any extra grease. Put another paper towel on top and pat it down.

Now we’ll mix together the sausage and cheese in a bowl until the cheese is thoroughly mixed in.

Now we’re going to stuff the mushrooms. I found the best way to do this was to put some of the mixture in a mushroom cap with a spoon and then press down a little more with my fingers.  You want it compacted.

Put the mushrooms on a 9×13″ glass baking dish that has been coating with cooking spray.  They will shrink as they cook, so don’t worry if it’s a tight fit.

We’re going to bake them until they are golden on top and the sausage in the center is completely cooked, about 20 minutes.

Dollop some Creme Fraiche on each mushroom.  I like Creme Fraiche because it’s thinner, yet more creamy than sour cream.  If you can’t find it sour cream will work.

Enjoy!