Baked Mushrooms Stuffed with Crab and Cream Cheese
International dishesGrilled DishesEuropeabout 35 minutes
Baked mushrooms stuffed with crab and cream cheese make a one bite starter, the filling rich and gently sweet from the crab. Large cremini caps are thick enough to hold the filling without collapsing.
The difficulty is the water the mushrooms release in the oven, which loosens the filling. The chopped stems are cooked first to drive off that water before they go into the filling. A thin brush of oil on the outside of each cap keeps the surface from drying in the oven.
This batch weighs about 426g, at roughly 197 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash 12 large cremini mushrooms, separate the stems from the caps and chop the stems finely.
Heat 10ml of olive oil in a small pan, add the chopped stems, minced garlic, minced chili, the white parts of 4 spring onions and 10g of thyme, and cook for about 5 minutes until soft.
Brush a thin layer of oil over the outside of each cap and sprinkle a little salt inside.
Blend 150g of cooked crab meat with 120g of cream cheese until smooth.
Put the blended crab, 40g of grated cheese and the cooked mushroom stems in a large bowl, mix well, squeeze in a little lime juice and season with salt and black pepper.
Fill each cap with the mixture, set them on a rack and bake at 180 degrees C for about 15 to 20 minutes. Scatter the chopped green tops over before serving.
Tips
Cook the stems until all their water has gone before mixing the filling, or it will run out onto the tray.
Choose caps that are thick and closed, since open caps hold less filling and break easily.
Rinse the mushrooms quickly and pat them dry, as a long soak leaves them waterlogged and bland.
Let the cream cheese soften at room temperature before blending, because cold cheese makes a lumpy filling.
Crab meat picked from the seafood market works as well as fresh, as long as it is squeezed dry.
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