A Girl and Her Kitchen: Turkey Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms are one of the easiest weeknight dinners that are amazingly gentle on your diet. OK, so maybe not all stuffed mushroom recipes are good for you, but this one is! Ok ok, save for the wee bit of Gorgonzola cheese and sour cream, but considering this recipe makes 6 servings, the cheesey, creamy goodness spreads its love. So unless you are a sneaky cheese stealing chef saving all the cheese bits for your mushroom, you should be just fine.

When I went to make this yesterday I realized I didn’t actually have any turkey sausage on hand, but I did have ground turkey. Alas, the miracle of the kitchen, I just made my own homemade turkey sausage! And it was fabulous. I actually rather like this idea so I think I will continue to make my own sausage in the future. You can make it saltier, spicier or sweeter to your taste. Plus I know what goes into my turkey sausage, which I can’t always say for the store bought kind. I have a sneaking suspicion it might be cheaper to make my own too, but I haven’t actually tested this theory yet. You can easily make the sausage the night before and keep it in the frige till needed. The longer it sits, the better it gets. But if you want to stick with store bought, no problem, it will work just as well.

This is also a recipe you can play with by adding more spice or other kinds of herbs. Vegetables in this one are also very versatile. Swop out the spinach for peas or even chopped bell peppers. Have fun with it because this is one tasty dish.

Homemade Turkey Sausage
(A Girl and Her Kitchen)

1 pound lean ground turkey
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed
1 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 medium shallot, minced

In a bowl, combine the turkey, garlic powder, fennel seed, sugar, salt, oregano and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Use in stuffed mushroom recipe below, or form into patties and cook in a nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray (or butter) for about 3 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165º. Or crumble turkey into a nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray using a wooden spoon to break up the meat. Cook and stir for about 4 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.

Stuffed Mushrooms
(Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
1/4 cup marsala wine
12 ounces turkey sausage, casings removed (or 1 lb homemade turkey sausage)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, chopped
3/4 cup sour cream (or mascarpone cheese), at room temperature
2 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves
2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano leaves
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 cup (4-ounces) Gorgonzola (or more if you are feeling decadent)
3/4 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed free of extra water
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
6 medium portobello mushroom caps, stems removed

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat, turn on your Griddler, or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the turkey sausage and cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and scallions and cook for 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sour cream (or mascarpone cheese if using). Add the thyme, oregano, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of Gorgonzola, spinach, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together ¼ cup olive oil with the marsala wine. Brush the mushrooms on both sides with the oil and wine mixture and season with salt and pepper. Grill the mushrooms, stem side down, for 3 minutes. Turn the mushrooms over and grill for 2 minutes until tender. If using a Cuisinart Griddler, only needs 3 minutes total as the mushrooms are being cooked on both side simultaneously. (I ended up using massive mushrooms caps here.)

Fill each mushroom with the sausage mixture and top with the remaining Gorgonzola.

Place the assembled mushrooms on a baking sheet and cooked under a preheated broiler until the stuffing is warmed through and the Gorgonzola starts to melt, about 5 to 7 minutes. Serve with side green salad.