On this occasion, I prepared stuffed, baked mushrooms (funghi ripieni or funghi farciti in Italian) with the herb called Nepitella.
Nepitella (calamint) is not very well known in Australia, but this aromatic herb is used in the regions of Tuscany and Lazio especially for the cooking of artichokes and mushrooms and other vegetable, but also eggs (surprising!).
This version of stuffed mushrooms was prepared for a gluten and dairy-free friend and I used crumbed gluten-free crackers. When not cooking for a gluten and dairy-free friend, I use breadcrumbs (any grain) and add grated Parmesan cheese to the stuffing mixture.
Apart from the crumbed cracker biscuits, these mushrooms are stuffed with the mushroom stalks, silver beet (or spinach), parsley, garlic, nutmeg, extra virgin olive oil and the herb Nepitella that I am growing on my balcony.
I have used Nepitella to stuff delicate tasting fish and I also like it with pork. A couple of months ago I was in Tuscany and I enjoyed collecting Nepitella (it grows wild).
Marjoram or thyme also go well with mushrooms. The larger leaves in the photo below are young plants of Warrigal Greens.
No need for quantities in this recipe…once again, you can estimate how much of each amount you wish to use for the stuffing.
PROCEDURE
Preheat oven at 180˚C
Wipe the mushrooms clean. Remove the stalks and finely chop them. Slice and chop the silver beet or spinach leaves. Crumb the cracker biscuits (or use breadcrumbs). .
Heat the oil in a pan add the chopped mushroom stalks and garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes until soft and golden. Remove from the stove.
Mix in in the silver beet or spinach, walnuts, biscuit (or bread) crumbs, a dash of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, herbs and nutmeg. Spoon the mixture onto the mushrooms.
Bake them until cooked throughout and browned on top. Mine were large mushrooms and I baked them for 15–20 minutes, I used baking paper with a little extra virgin olive oil.
HERB-STUFFED MUSHROOMS: A CULINARY EXPERIMENT
STUFFED MUSHROOMS with pine nuts and fresh breadcrumbs – Funghi ripieni