Stuffed Mushrooms with Ground Chicken "Sausage"

 I've got a house-full of mushroom lovers.

As such, these little gems were met with rave reviews.

That's always a much better response than wailing and gagging.  I've received a fair amount of that lately.

The original recipe used Italian sausage.  And you certainly can use that, too.  I've been a bit squeamish about pork for several years (with the delicious exclusion of organic bacon), and so for this recipe, I used ground chicken and "made" my own sausage.  Minus the stuffing-it-into-intestine-casings part.  ((((ACK!))))

The secret's in the seasoning. 

Paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, fennel seeds (anise), and basil. 

(Heavy on the paprika.)

Plop on a pound of poultry.

Not all that lovely-looking, I know.  You'll just have to trust me on the taste.

Refrigerate the "sausage" for a while and let the flavors date, fall in love, and pledge their hearts in marriage. 

While romance is in the air in the fridge, prep the mushrooms.  I bought 3 (8-ounce) containers of white button mushrooms (about 28 mushrooms).  Portabella would be great here, too. 

I washed them,

Lopped off their stems,

And scooped out their centers with a melon baller.

(Save all of this and saute it for a yummy addition to a pasta sauce.)

Place the hollowed-out mushrooms on a foiled-lined baking sheet.  Set aside.

Remove the sausage mixture from the fridge and cook over medium heat until it's no longer pink.  Mix in 1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs.  And set all that aside.

Finely chop about half a handful of fresh parsley.

And mix it into softened cream cheese (there's other yummy ingredients in here, too).

Then stir the "sausage"/breadcrumb mixture into the cream cheese mixture. 

Behold:  the stuff mushrooms dream of embracing.

Scoop a heaping tablespoon into each mushroom.

Then sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese and bake at 400 degrees F for 14-16 minutes.

These disappeared like the M&Ms in a bag of trail mix.  Quickly.

(Here's the printable recipe.)

Stuffed Mushrooms with Ground Chicken "Sausage"
Makes about 28 generously-stuffed mushrooms

3 (8-ounce) packages whole mushrooms, washed, stemmed, and cored
1 pound ground chicken (or substitute Italian sausage)
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped (about 1/2 a handful)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

"Sausage" Seasoning (if using ground chicken)
1.5 teaspoon coarse salt
3.5 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon (heaping) teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

To prepare ground chicken "sausage":  Mix the sausage seasonings together.  Stir in the ground chicken.  Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Place the prepared mushrooms on a foil-lined baking sheet.  

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage until it's no longer pink.  Mix in the breadcrumbs.  Remove skillet from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, parsley, lemon juice and garlic.  Stir in the sausage mixture.  Mix well.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Scoop a tablespoon-full of the sausage/cheese mixture into each mushroom.  Sprinkle mushrooms with Parmesan.  Bake mushrooms for 14-16 minutes. 

Stuffed Mushrooms recipe adapted from here.
Sausage Seasoning recipe from here.