Perfect for snacking or taking for lunch the next day
The secret is stuffing the mushrooms with more mushrooms — specifically, chopped-up mushroom stems, which, along with quinoa, retain moisture and soak up the garlic juice and Parmesan cheese exceptionally well. This recipe purposefully makes a little more filling than you need for stuffing the mushrooms, as it’s perfect for snacking or taking for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
• 16 small white button mushrooms (about 10 ounces; see Note), brushed clean
• ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 small Indian green chile or serrano chile, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced 1½ cups cooked white quinoa (from about ½ cup dry quinoa; see page 19)
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (1 ounce)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper Note: The mushroom caps should be small enough to eat in a single bite.
Preparation
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Set the caps aside, and finely chop the stems.
• In a large pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the onion and chile and cook until the onion browns, five to seven minutes. Add the chopped mushroom stems and cook until soft, two to three minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for one minute.
• Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool for five minutes. Add the cooked quinoa, Parmesan, cilantro, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine.
• Arrange the mushroom caps on a baking sheet and, using a teaspoon, fill them with the quinoa mixture — the filling should be spilling out of each cap.
• Bake the stuffed mushrooms for 12 minutes, until slightly wilted and lightly browned on top. Let cool for about five minutes.
• Drizzle each stuffed mushroom with a little olive oil before serving.
Photography © 2019 by Mackenzie Kelley. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.