Risotto Stuffed Mushrooms
Risotto Stuffed Mushrooms
Cremini mushroom caps stuffed with “Italian sausage” flavored risotto and dusted with crunchy breadcrumbs. The perfect healthy and hearty appetizer for the holidays.
Risotto Stuffed Mushrooms
ingredients:
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 5-8 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup Arborio rice, dry
- 24oz cremini mushrooms
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp thyme, dried
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- handful fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
- kosher salt
instructions:
How to cook Risotto Stuffed Mushrooms
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a saucepan, bring the vegetable broth to a simmer. Then turn to low and cover.
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally.
- Add the minced garlic, thyme, fennel, paprika, garlic powder, and red pepper. Cook for about 30 seconds, or until the garlic is fragrant.
- Deglaze the pan with a few tablespoons of water, then add the dry rice and stir to combine.
- Cook the rice for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it begins to turn golden brown and smell nutty.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low, and add ½ cup of vegetable broth to the rice, then cover. Once all the liquid has disappeared, add another ½ cup and cover. Continue this process, stirring occasionally, until the rice is ‘al dente.’ This should take no longer than 30 minutes.
- While the risotto cooks, prepare your mushrooms: remove the stem (use it for homemade broth!), then wipe the caps clean with a slightly damp cloth. DO NOT wash the mushrooms, as they will soak up the water like a sponge and become too soggy when baked.
- Once the risotto is al dente, stir in the nutritional yeast, red wine vinegar, and soy sauce. Add in a bit more broth if it becomes too dry. Then remove from heat and stir in the parsley. Taste and add salt if necessary.
- Arrange the mushroom caps, hollow side up, on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Fill the mushrooms with roughly 1 Tbsp of risotto, then sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a light amount of kosher salt.
- Bake for 17 minutes.
- Allow the mushrooms to cool for a minute before serving (just enough time to transfer them to a serving dish). Make sure you save one for yourself before they all disappear!
Calories
97.45Fat (grams)
0.86Sat. Fat (grams)
0.18Carbs (grams)
18.40Fiber (grams)
2.26Net carbs
16.15Sugar (grams)
3.69Protein (grams)
6.23Sodium (milligrams)
639.74Cholesterol (grams)
0.05About the stuffed mushrooms:
Nothing says “festive” like a freshly baked appetizer- especially if it’s something that’s been stuffed. Whether it’s for the Superbowl, Thanksgiving, or Christmas Dinner, these risotto stuffed mushrooms will fit right in as a crowd-pleasing treat. These can be made in under an hour, and you can save yourself most of that time by making the risotto a day early!
Have you made risotto before? If not, it may seem intimidating. It did to me. But making risotto is just a specific way of making a specific kind of rice. Arborio rice, that is.
Though I have made risotto with brown rice, arborio is so much faster and tastier. Dry arborio rice can be made into a creamy risotto in about 30 minutes without adding anything other than broth, thanks to the starch that’s released in the cooking process. All that to say, do yourself a favor and just get arborio rather than trying to use brown or some other grain.
Now that you have the appropriate rice, you need to toast the rice. Most recipes use oil for this step, but I’ve found that it works fine without it. Just the heat is enough to toast the rice and create a lovely, nutty flavor.
Once the rice is toasted, you sloooooowly add warm broth to the pan, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid in ½ cup increments. Stir the rice occasionally to keep the bottom layer from sticking or burning. And, this bit is very important, keep the pan covered! Otherwise, your broth will turn to steam, leaving your rice uncooked.
Arborio rice + toasting + small amounts of broth in covered pan= risotto.
Now that you feel TOTALLY confident in your super basic risotto making knowledge, let’s talk about this recipe specifically:
RECIPE NOTES:
For this recipe, I decided to season the risotto with an Italian sausage-type blend with fennel, paprika, a little soy sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, thyme, garlic, and parsley. You can change the seasoning blend to fit your preferences, though I do recommend including a fresh herb.
To make this recipe gluten free, use tamari sauce instead of soy sauce and use gluten-free breadcrumbs instead of regular! Easy.
Unfortunately, these do not reheat very well, as the risotto dries out. So eat them while they’re hot!
If you are spice-averse, leave out the crushed red pepper and allow guests to add them as a garnish instead.
As a reminder, DON’T WASH THE MUSHROOMS! Wiping them clean, rather than rinsing them, results in a meatier texture when cooked.
I hope you and your guests love these vegan, plant-based, oil-free, “meaty”, creamy, crunchy little appetizers!
Happy Cooking,
✌️Courtney