Ingredients
Serves 2
250g mushrooms - use medium sized closed cup or ideally those big field mushrooms
Half a bunch of spring onions
1 clove garlic
6 tbs ground almonds (or replace with breadcrumbs)(see know how breadcrumbs)
2 tbs pinenuts
25-50g cheese (I used brie, but if you use a hard cheese perhaps grate half into the mix, and put the other half over the top once you've stuffed them)
1 tbs olive oil
There are many variations, including adding lots of beautifully flavoured herbs. Try taragon, which has a great punchy flavour here.
Stuffed mushrooms
Not a very original name, but despite that these stuffed mushrooms are really delicious.By roasting them briefly upside down first much of the water cooks out, meaning you can make the most of the stuffing flavours.
By all means substitute the ground almonds for breadcrumbs, I merely used them for their flavour which holds up, and complements, the mushroomy flavour but don't feel they are compulsory.
Recipe
Heat the oven to gas mark 6, 180degC
Gently prize the stalks out of the mushrooms with your fingers, keeping the stalks to one side, and place the mushrooms upside down on an oven tray. Put the tray into the oven whilst you make the stuffing.
If you have a food blender, put all the remaining ingredients, including the stalks, into the blender and pulse until you have a coarse paste. If you don't have a blender - roughly chop the mushroom stalks and pinenuts, chop the cheese into small cubes, crush the garlic and finely shred the spring onions. Add to a bowl with the ground almonds and stir together with a spoon.
Once your mushrooms have been in the oven for about 10 minutes, take the tray out, pour away any of the juices and turn the mushrooms right side up so you can spoon a teaspoon of the mixture into them. Flatten the mixture out once it's all divided around the mushrooms and bake them in the oven for about 7minutes, until they're looking bubbling and golden on the top.
