With the addition of some rich cream cheese and just a few seasonings and spices, mushrooms can be turned from a basic, albeit meaty, food into something absolutely packed with flavor.
1/4cupParmesan or a Parmigiano Reggiano cheesegrated
1/4teaspoonground black pepper
1/4teaspoononion powder
1/4teaspoonsmoked paprika
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray the muffin tins with cooking spray.
Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel, wiping off all of the dirt but being careful not to break the caps!
Carefully remove the stems from the caps with a slight twisting, bending motion, being careful again to not break the caps.
Cut the tough, dry ends off of the mushroom stems and discard that part.
Mince the remaining mushroom stems finely and keep to the side.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
Add the chopped mushroom stems to the skillet.
Fry the mushroom stems until the moisture has disappeared, then add in the mined garlic. Fry for another 2 minutes until the garlic is browned and fragrant. Scoop into a medium sized mixing bowl and cool.
When garlic and mushroom mixture has cooled down to being just warm, stir in the cream cheese, Parmesan/ Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, black pepper, onion powder and the smoked paprika.
Place the filling into a large ziploc plastic bag, Cut the corner off and use like an icing bag to fill the mushroom caps.
Using the bag, fill each mushroom cap with the filling until they are slightly more than level (just a bit higher than the edges so that you can still add more cheese later if you want!
Place one mushroom cap in each prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle a little bit extra Parmesan cheese on top if you want.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes (this is all depending on how large your mushroom caps are) until the mushrooms are piping hot and the liquid has started coming out of the mushrooms and into the bottom of the muffin tins.
Remove from the oven and cool slightly, then serve warm.