There is nothing about tonight that makes stuffed mushrooms make sense. Really, I’m not throwing a dinner party—and only one of my roommates likes mushrooms. To give you some context, my three roommates and I have just moved back to Boston, and instead of settling into a typical on-campus, swipe-access, breathing-down-your-neck pad, we’ve made it into a big girl off-campus apartment. It’s like an episode of Girls around here, yet I like to think we have better taste in dudes.
Life in this place has been pretty nice since we arrived. The sweet sound of neighborhood kids playing leaks through our windows, we’ve bought a few too many house plants and we’ve almost come to terms with the fact that our neighbors can see us showering through our bathroom window. (Oh, and we also have an ant problem, a beeping smoke alarm and a lovely plumbing issue —hooray big girl things!). But really, there is something good going on here, and a lot of it comes down to the fact that we have a kitchen—a big one.
Ah, yes. Now back to the issue at hand: stuffed mushrooms. Even though I’m not passing appetizers around here, when I’m met with a craving, it’s there to stay. I’ve learned to live with it (and so has my mushroom-loving roommate, Arielle). As I’m writing this, I’ve been sneaking back and forth to the kitchen, taking the chilled leftovers from Tupperware one-by-one.
Quinoa, Artichoke and Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
The Shopping List—yields 12 mushrooms
+ 20 oz. button mushrooms
+ 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
+ 1/2 red onion, chopped
+ 4 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
+ 1/2 can of artichokes, loosely chopped
+ 1 handful sun-dried tomatoes (the kind without oil)
+1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
+ 2 tablespoons chopped flat parsley
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush a nonstick baking sheet with olive oil.
2. Meanwhile, cook quinoa according to package instructions.
3. Place cleaned, stemless mushroom caps on sheet pan.
4. Saute red onion and garlic in pan until aromatic and just about translucent, about five minutes.
5. Place unfilled mushrooms in the preheated oven for ten minutes.
6. Add artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and quinoa into pan and saute for another five minutes.
7. Remove mushrooms from oven. Add goat cheese and fresh parsley to the mix on the stove. Then, spoon the mix into each partially cooked mushroom cap.
8. Place mushrooms in the oven for another 5-7 minutes.
9. Devour as an appetizer, side or snack. Or, if you’re anything like me, just eat them straight off the pan.
