Smoked Chorizo Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
This is a great meal option, especially for those who do not normally enjoy portabella mushrooms. For this recipe, smoking with a fruit wood like apple or cherry is recommended to add an hour's worth of smoke to the dish.
This is a great meal option, especially for those who do not normally enjoy portabella mushrooms. For this recipe, smoking with a fruit wood like apple or cherry is recommended to add an hour's worth of smoke to the dish.
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 large portabella mushrooms
- 1/3 pound chorizo mexican
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
- 4 ounces baby spinach chopped
- 3 tablespoons reduced fat cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
- Carbohydrate 19.5637276163998 g
- Cholesterol 78.5786 mg
- Fat 40.2085903790619 g
- Fiber 4.12128695574729 g
- Protein 25.8845025297436 g
- Saturated Fat 14.0879961898787 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (276g)
- Sodium 1161.70037530787 mg
- Sugar 15.4424406606525 g
- Trans Fat 2.35032170220563 g
- Calories 535 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat smoker.
- Using a paring knife, remove stems from all mushroom caps. Wipe down mushrooms with a wet cloth to remove all dirt. Do not wash or rinse mushrooms. Set aside.
- In a medium skillet, heat oil and sauté garlic and onio until fragrant. Add chorizo and continue cooking until chorizo is browned. Add spinach and cook until shrunk down. Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, dried basil, chilli powder and smoked paprika. Mix well.
- Add chorizo mix to cream cheese and blend until thoroughly mixed.
- Mound mixture into mushroom cap. Top with grated parmesan cheese and panko, pressing lightly into mounded mixture.
- Smoke at 225 for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
Texture depends entirely on contrasting the chewy density of the mushroom against the crisp crunch of panko bread crumbs. Raw bread crumbs will burn before the interior reaches target temperature, so pressing them firmly into the dairy and meat binder protects them while allowing the fat to render and toast the surface grains. Chopped spinach must be thoroughly wilted in the skillet alongside the garlic and onions to drive off residual water before mixing with the reduced fat cream cheese. Failure to reduce this moisture risks breaking the cheese emulsion, resulting in a watery filling that leaks out of the cap during the long smoking cycle.
Judging doneness relies on visual and tactile cues rather than internal probing since the filling consists of precooked meat and vegetables. Watch for the mushroom cap to soften completely and release a small amount of liquid onto the pan while the parmesan cheese melts into a golden crust. A successful cook finishes when the internal temperature reaches a steady holding zone and the exterior panko shows uniform browning after roughly 75 to 90 minutes in the smoker chamber.
Purchasing raw Mexican chorizo requires careful label reading because tubes frequently contain high amounts of moisture that need to be completely rendered out in the skillet before combining with dry spices. Draining excess rendered fat prevents the filling from becoming greasy, ensuring the smoked paprika and chili powder adhere directly to the meat proteins. Grating fresh parmesan yields superior melting characteristics compared to pre-shredded cellulose-coated alternatives, directly improving the crust formation on top of each cap.
