Stuffed Mushrooms

Sometimes they are the white button mushroom caps, stuffed and used as finger food at parties and other times, portabella caps are stuffed and eaten as a starter or first course. Stuffed portabellas also make a good vegetarian luncheon along with a tossed green salad.

These were served as a starter -- not for a dinner party but for husband Jim and I. Along with a glass of merlot. They made a wonderful first course.

There were leftovers, of course. Who can make just two? So the next day, friends joined me for an impromptu luncheon where we polished off the rest of the stuffed mushrooms along with a salad of mixed baby greens with grape tomatoes and a mustardy vinaigrette.

I don't really have a recipe. I browned some ground chuck along with some minced onion (green onions I prefer but alas, I didn't have any), then I added some panko bread crumbs, sour cream, diced mushroom caps, and a big grating of Parmesan. I put all of that into the portabella caps, added another big shower of Parmesan and baked at 350 until everything was hot and bubbly and the cheese was melted.