Stuffed Mushrooms with Sweet Italian Sausage, Goat Cheese & Figs
Sweet and Savory Stuffed Mushrooms with Sweet Italian Sausage, Goat Cheese & Chopped Calimyrna Figs. The tastes of this stuffed mushroom will burst with variety of sweet and savory flavors. Substitute golden delicious apples and feta cheese for figs and goat cheese if not available.
Sweet and Savory Stuffed Mushrooms with Sweet Italian Sausage, Goat Cheese & Chopped Calimyrna Figs. The tastes of this stuffed mushroom will burst with variety of sweet and savory flavors. Substitute golden delicious apples and feta cheese for figs and goat cheese if not available.
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pound sweet italian sausage ground
- 2 pinch nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper to taste
- 1/8 cup crown royal whiskey substitute jack daniels or beef broth
- 24 ounce mushrooms fresh, large portabello's for stuffing or smaller button for appetiser
- 8 ounces goat cheese or half goat cheese and half parmesan cheese
- 5 ounces figs calimyrna, chopped fine
- 1/4 cup almonds slivered
- Carbohydrate 6.99271001053228 g
- Cholesterol 26.2705580826667 mg
- Fat 16.2319294271467 g
- Fiber 1.92510139251814 g
- Protein 14.9512687039932 g
- Saturated Fat 5.63515689379701 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (138g)
- Sodium 412.900355383149 mg
- Sugar 5.06760861801414 g
- Trans Fat 1.44900683600449 g
- Calories 223 calories
Step-by-step
- In a medium to large fry pan add Italian Sausage to pan and break up as much as possible to allow for even cooking. Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper over the top layer of the sausage to evenly distribute the spices. Cook over medium heat until sausage is fully cooked. Drain of excess oil. Return to heat and add 1/8 cup of Crown Royal. Continue to cook until the alcholol is completely absorbed and the alchohol aroma has disappated.
- Let sausage mixture cool to slighly warm prior to adding remaining ingredients.
- Prepare Mushrooms for Stuffing: Clean fresh mushrooms tops with a moist paper towel to remove any bits that are sometimes in the packaging. Trim stem bottoms to remove any dried stem. Remove stems and set aside. Use a melon scoop to remove additional stem or mushroom inside to allow more room for stuffing.
- Chop figs and mushrooms stems until small bits. Chop walnuts into small bits if purchased in larger size. Add chopped figs, chopped mushroom stems, chopped walnuts, goat cheese and parmesan cheese (if you decided to go half & half on the cheeses) to the sausage mixture. Mix well. Use your hands to mix together all the ingredients. Dig in and thoroughly mix the cheese, figs, walnuts, etc into the sausage so that the sausage mix can be formed into balls to press into the mushrooms.
- At this time preheat oven to 350 degrees. For button mushrooms, lightly press approximately 1-1.5 tablespoon of sausage mixture into the scooped out mushroom. For larger stuffing mushrooms, allow for around 2-3 tablespoons per mushroom. There will be around 24-30 button mushrooms or 12-15 large mushrooms.
- Place each stuffed mushroom stuffing side up on non-stick baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes for button mushrooms or 20-30 minutes for large mushrooms. Remove from oven when the mushroom sides are of a browned color. Do not overcook.
Ground sweet Italian sausage carries the weight of this dish, providing both the primary fat source and the fundamental umami base needed to anchor the sweeter components. When pork fat renders over medium heat, it absorbs fat-soluble aromatic compounds from cinnamon and nutmeg, binding the spices to the meat rather than letting them float away in steam. Adding whiskey deglazes the pan by dissolving fond, which concentrates sugars and amino acids before the alcohol burns off completely. Letting the cooked meat cool down before incorporating the goat cheese prevents the dairy's milk solids from separating and turning greasy under residual heat. Careful control over this temperature drop determines whether the filling binds into a cohesive scoopable mass or breaks down into an oily paste.
Mushrooms release immense amounts of water during baking, which threatens to make the filling soggy if the caps are not managed correctly. Using a melon scoop to hollow out the interior creates structural stability and maximizes the surface area where the sausage fat can render directly into the mushroom cap. Button mushrooms require fifteen to twenty minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, while larger specimens need up to thirty minutes until the exterior edges turn visibly golden.
Dried Calimyrna figs contribute high levels of fructose that would easily overwhelm savory profiles without the balancing lactic acid present in the goat cheese. Walnuts introduce polyunsaturated fats and physical crunch, breaking up the dense textures of the meat and soft cheese. Toasting the nuts slightly inside the baking mushroom cavity releases volatile nutty aromas that cut through the heavier pork fat.
Mushroom Prep and Moisture Management
Mushrooms release immense amounts of water during baking, which threatens to make the filling soggy if the caps are not managed correctly. Using a melon scoop to hollow out the interior creates structural stability and maximizes the surface area where the sausage fat can render directly into the mushroom cap. Button mushrooms require fifteen to twenty minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, while larger specimens need up to thirty minutes until the exterior edges turn visibly golden.
Balancing Sweetness and Acidity
Dried Calimyrna figs contribute high levels of fructose that would easily overwhelm savory profiles without the balancing lactic acid present in the goat cheese. Walnuts introduce polyunsaturated fats and physical crunch, breaking up the dense textures of the meat and soft cheese. Toasting the nuts slightly inside the baking mushroom cavity releases volatile nutty aromas that cut through the heavier pork fat.
