Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

This simple and fun appetizer is great for a pot-luck or dinner party and was a big hit with friends! I made these as a starter for a pizza party event. These can be made vegetarian friendly by substituting some Bacon Bits (made from soy) for the actual bacon listed in the recipe below. I left the bacon out of about a quarter of this recipe and subbed in the Bacon Bits for my vegetarian friends.

Ingredients

8 oz bacon

1/2 cup finely minced sweet onion

1 clove garlic, minced

16 oz white button mushrooms

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

1.  Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut raw bacon into small pieces. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, cook bacon until nice and crispy. When bacon is done, remove from pan and set aside; reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease and pour the rest from pan.

2.  While bacon is cooking, remove mushroom stems from caps and chop stems into small pieces.

3.  Saute onion in reserved bacon grease until soft. Add chopped mushrooms stems and garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese and parmesan cheese and stir until cheeses are melted. Add reserved chopped bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

4.  Remove mixture from heat and stuff each mushroom cap generously with mixture.

5.  Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and filling is nice and hot.

The stuffing mixture can be made, cooled, and stored, covered, in the fridge for up to two days, which makes assembling the day of a party/event super fast and easy!

Credit to Mountain Mama Cooks blog for this great recipe!