Stuffed Mushrooms
serves approx. 4 people

This is the most recent of my stuffed mushroom recipes.  I like to use the smaller bite size mushrooms, instead of the usual large caps used for stuffing, primarily because their cheaper and easier to eat.  If you'd like to use the giant caps, you'll get half as many, and you'll probably need to sauté them for a few minutes before stuffing and baking so they cook completely without drying out.

15 medium sized button mushrooms

4 oz. Cream Cheese, at room temperature.

1/4 cup Soft Sun Dried Tomatoes

2 tbls. Minced Garlic

1/8  cup Fresh Basil, chopped

2 tbls. Crumbled Feta, plain or flavored

2 tsp. olive oil

Wash the mushrooms and remove the stems.  

Preheat oven to 400º F.  

If not using pre-softened sun-dried tomatoes, soften them by soaking in a little olive oil, or according to package directions.  Reserve some of that oil for sautéing.   Chop the sun-dried tomatoes as small as possible, they may be gooey, but don't let that stop you.

Chop the basil by rolling the leaves together and using scissors cut in thin strips over the measuring cup.  Then use the scissors again to snip into smaller pieces.

Heat the oil in a small saucepan.  Sauté the minced garlic and tomatoes for 30 seconds to a minute, just to bring out the flavor. 
Turn off the heat and stir in the fresh basil.

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, feta cheese and sun-dried tomato mixture together until well blended.  If desired, you can add additional Italian seasonings, thyme, rosemary or a dash of salt to taste.  For a sweeter mixture, the feta cheese can be left out, additional feta will make it less sweet.

Fill the mushroom caps with the cream cheese mixture.  Place the mushroom caps in a well oiled or buttered dish, either a glass casserole dish or a small cake pan.  Use a pan that will exactly hold all the mushrooms, if its too large the mushroom juice will drain off and the mushrooms may dry up.  I like to line a pan with aluminum foil, and fold the edges up around the mushrooms, so even if the pan is too large the mushrooms stay juicy.

Bake the mushrooms uncovered at 400º for 10-13 minutes.  They'll shrink when they're done, and they should be juicy. 

Cream Cheese-less version

Omit the cream cheese.   Use 4 tablespoons feta, plus 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs.  If the mixture seems dry, add a few drops of olive oil.  Stuff and Bake as above.