# TNT: Italian 3 Cheese and Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms



## Piccolina (Dec 14, 2005)

I love these, I always make them over the holidays and find that they vanish like hot cakes when I serve them to guests. You can easily multiple the recipe as many times as need be. Enjoy 

*Italian 3 Cheese and Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms*


 8 large fresh mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed

 2 cups of fresh ricotta cheese, drained

 ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

 ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 

 1 tbsp of olive oil

 5 tbsp of pesto 

  Freshly cracked black pepper to taste (optional)


 Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C.

 Hollow out the gills from the 8 mushrooms so that you are left with the large empty mushroom caps. With a pastry brush or a paper towel brush a thin coating of olive oil all over the mushrooms (inside and outside).

 In a medium or large mixing bowl lace all of the cheeses and pesto (and pepper is using), less ¼ a cup of parmesan.  

 With a tablespoon place an equal about of the cheese mixture into each of the eight oiled mushroom caps. Place them onto a non-stick or foiled lined baking sheet in a single layer. Dust each mushroom with an equal amount of the reserved parmesan or mozzarella cheese.


 Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown to your liking. Remove the tray from the oven and allow the mushrooms to cool on it for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a serving dish. 

 Serve at once or cover and store in the fridge for up to 24 hours before serving (reheat in a warm oven briefly before serving them to your guests). Utterly addictive! 


Makes 8 mushroom caps (serves 2-3 as an first course)


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## corazon (Dec 14, 2005)

That looks right up my alley!  Thanks a bunch.  Have you ever made this with portobello mushrooms?


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## Piccolina (Dec 14, 2005)

corazon90 said:
			
		

> That looks right up my alley! Thanks a bunch. Have you ever made this with portobello mushrooms?


 Hi Corazon, thanks, you're very welcome. I've made these with portobellos and they work great too! This will stuff about 6 medium sized portobellos (in my experience)


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## RMS (Dec 14, 2005)

My mouth is watering, Thanks!


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## urmaniac13 (Dec 14, 2005)

I love stuffed mushrooms!! (well I LOVE mushrooms in any which way... I don't trust anyone who don't like them!! ) 
This sounds like a wonderful variation to the one I usually make (with minced onions or scallions, chopped stems, crumbled bacon/pancetta, breadcrumbs, parsley and parmigiano/grana padano).... must be buonissimo, gotta try them asap!!  Thanks!!


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## ronjohn55 (Dec 14, 2005)

urmaniac13 said:
			
		

> I love stuffed mushrooms!! (well I LOVE mushrooms in any which way... I don't trust anyone who don't like them!! )
> This sounds like a wonderful variation to the one I usually make (with minced onions or scallions, chopped stems, crumbled bacon/pancetta, breadcrumbs, parsley and parmigiano/grana padano).... must be buonissimo, gotta try them asap!! Thanks!!


 
Wow! That version sounds really good too! (Yes, count me among the mushroom lovers - my fave is grilled portabellas...)

John


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## Piccolina (Dec 14, 2005)

Hi guys, you are all very welcome, I'm so  that you like this recipe. 



> Wow! That version sounds really good too! (Yes, count me among the mushroom lovers - my fave is grilled portabellas...)


 John, I like grilled portobellos too, they make great veggie burgers in place of beef patties.


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## urmaniac13 (Dec 14, 2005)

ronjohn55 said:
			
		

> Wow! That version sounds really good too! (Yes, count me among the mushroom lovers - my fave is grilled portabellas...)
> 
> John


 
Thanks Ron!!  It is fairly easy, sautè the onion/scallion, stems and bacon/pancetta with some garlic, pepper and a little herbs of your choice.  Mix them with breadcrumbs, parsley and cheese and stuff it into the mushroom caps.  Bake them at 180°C/350°F, first covered, and then towards the end remove the cover and continue to bake for some more minutes, until the top gets kinda crusty and golden brown...  (If you leave the cover on it can get too soggy, and if you cook it uncovered all the way through it will dry out too much...) The time varies depending on the size of mushrooms, if they are on a smaller side about 10-15 minutes will suffice, but if they are huge it takes about 20-25 minutes.  Give it a try!!

I love grilled portobello, too... I remember On The Border made fajitas with them, that was my absolute favourite!!


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## kadesma (Dec 18, 2005)

Piccolina,
just found your recipe..Will be making them today, since I have everything I need..These look delicious..I usually make them like Licia does, but, this will be a nice change and give me another way to serve mushrooms..Thank you 

kadesma


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## Piccolina (Dec 19, 2005)

kadesma said:
			
		

> just found your recipe..Will be making them today, since I have everything I need..These look delicious..I usually make them like Licia does, but, this will be a nice change and give me another way to serve mushrooms..Thank you


 You're very welcome Kadesma, they are a fav of mine for sure. I really hope you enjoy them - let us know what you think of these stuffed mushrooms afterwards


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## kadesma (Dec 28, 2005)

Piccolina said:
			
		

> kadesma said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Piccolina (Dec 29, 2005)

kadesma said:
			
		

> Yikes I forgot to write you...I made the mushrooms and they were delicious..In fact the kids have asked me to make them some for New Years Eve...They loved them and so did I..Thanks


 I am so happy to hear that, Kadesma  You're more than welcome - happy holidays to you and all of your family!


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## corazon (Dec 30, 2005)

We are going to a party for New Years, I think I will borrow kadesma's idea and make these!  Thanks again!


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## urmaniac13 (Dec 30, 2005)

I made this last night and we both loved it!!  I added a bit of breadcrumbs with parmigiano for the topping, it added an extra crunch!!  What a great idea, this will be yet another of our favourite mushroom recipes!!


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## Piccolina (Dec 30, 2005)

urmaniac13 said:
			
		

> I made this last night and we both loved it!! I added a bit of breadcrumbs with parmigiano for the topping, it added an extra crunch!! What a great idea, this will be yet another of our favourite mushroom recipes!!


 Good idea with the bread crumbs licia, sort of reminds me of topping mussels...When I want to get "s****y" I love using brioche crumbs in place of the usual ones in breaded toppings, I bet they'd be wonderful here too. I'll have to give that a try, thanks for the idea, girl!


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## urmaniac13 (Dec 30, 2005)

Brioche!!  Yummy!!  And they do produce lots of crumbs as we scarf down on them, we will have to keep a clean mini broom on the table to collect them for this purpose (however Napoleone may not be happy about it... it has been his job to clean up the crumbs!!...well we will save him some extra peanuts instead!!)....


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## Piccolina (Dec 30, 2005)

urmaniac13 said:
			
		

> Brioche!! Yummy!! And they do produce lots of crumbs as we scarf down on them, we will have to keep a clean mini broom on the table to collect them for this purpose (however Napoleone may not be happy about it... it has been his job to clean up the crumbs!!...well we will save him some extra peanuts instead!!)....


Awww Napoleone is so super cute!!! What a lucky job he gets to have being your mini Hover vac!

I'd image that you guys can get brioche pretty easily in Itlay, no? I have a hard time finding it here (can you believe that our little town does not have a bakery, just the bakery areas in the grocery stores!), but if I'm adventerous it really isn't all that hard to whip up a batch from scratch for special occasions. Lol, I usually have a bread crumb collection in the cupboard (in plastic zip lock bags) from a few different types of bread (and sometimes pound cakes), which can be handy for all sorts of things.


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## urmaniac13 (Dec 30, 2005)

Piccolina said:
			
		

> Awww Napoleone is so super cute!!! What a lucky job he gets to have being your mini Hover vac!
> 
> I'd image that you guys can get brioche pretty easily in Itlay, no? I have a hard time finding it here (can you believe that our little town does not have a bakery, just the bakery areas in the grocery stores!), but if I'm adventerous it really isn't all that hard to whip up a batch from scratch for special occasions. Lol, I usually have a bread crumb collection in the cupboard (in plastic zip lock bags) from a few different types of bread (and sometimes pound cakes), which can be handy for all sorts of things.


 
Yes, we always get huge loaves of Brioche from Lidl, they are soooo good, the scary thing is that they taste soooo "light" therefore we just keep munching on them but in reality they are so NOT LIGHT at all!!  (If you have a chance to go out to a bigger place that has Aldi, try there... they are very similar to Lidl, both from germany... you will find lots of great bargains aside from the possibility of finding brioche!!)
We tried to make it once with our breadmaker, the flavour was spot on but it came out on a dense side, it didn't get that wonderful fluffy texture... if you find a winning recipe, don't forget to let us know!!


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## Debbie (Feb 16, 2006)

Piccolina said:
			
		

> I love these, I always make them over the holidays and find that they vanish like hot cakes when I serve them to guests. You can easily multiple the recipe as many times as need be. Enjoy
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## kimbaby (Feb 16, 2006)

yummy it sounds good...


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## urmaniac13 (Feb 16, 2006)

Debbie said:
			
		

> 5 tbsp of pesto
> 
> Pesto? what is Pesto.. never heard of it


 
It is one of the classic italian (genovese to be exact..) condiment with fresh basil leaves, most commonly used for pasta, but also delicious in variety of recipes... here is my TNT recipe...

-fresh basil leaves separated from the stem and well rinsed, then well drained
-Extra virgin olive oil, make sure it is a good quality. about 3/4 of amount (in grams/ozs) of the leaves.
(please experiment with the amount of below items, adding them gradually... to your personal taste...for a rough measure I use about 75g of cheese, 2 big cloves of garlic 75g of nuts to make about 1lb. of pesto)
-well seasoned parmigiano or pecorino cheese, freshly ground
-cloves of garlic
-mixture of pine nuts and cashew

First you whip the basil with oil in a blender/food processor to make a smooth goo. Then add the next 3 items and mix further until everything is well blended. It can be frozen in rather small amounts, make sure you pack it well and it will freeze fairly quickly. To keep in the fridge you put it in a bottle, and cover the surface with extra olive oil, to avoid the contact with the air. It will last about a week in the fridge, or it also freezes well. Enjoy!!


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## Debbie (Feb 17, 2006)

urmaniac13 said:
			
		

> It is one of the classic italian (genovese to be exact..) condiment with fresh basil leaves, most commonly used for pasta, but also delicious in variety of recipes... here is my TNT recipe...
> 
> Thank you


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