From the Kitchen of Dr. Bonnie Brock, NMD, RD, MPH
These mushrooms have been on my Italian family’s holiday table for as long as I can remember; made by one grandmother or aunt or another over the years. They are a crowd pleaser and easy to make ahead of time and just bake off right before the party. Traditionally, we have made them with breadcrumbs, but over the past few years, I have switched out to a more healthy and gluten-free quinoa and sprinkle nutritional yeast instead of parmesan and no one seems the wiser. The platter is always still assuredly empty at the end of the party!
Ingredients
· 1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
· 1 shallot, finely chopped
· 1 red pepper, finely chopped
· 1 bunch baby spinach, finely chopped
· 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
· 2 links Italian sausage, uncased, cooked and crumbled
· 1 Tbsp olive oil
· Zest of 1 lemon
· Salt and pepper to taste
· 12 mushrooms with medium to large sized caps, remove caps from stems
· 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water in pot and bring to boil. Cover and simmer on low until water fully absorbed. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 mins.
3. Dice shallot, pepper, spinach, mushroom stems and garlic into small pieces and mix into the quinoa with the sausage, lemon zest, salt, pepper and olive oil together.
5. Stuff the mushroom caps with vegetable/quinoa mixture, top with nutritional yeast and bake in oven until tender, 15-20 minutes
