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Dimitri's
Shrimp-Stuffed
Mushrooms
There is a lot of prep time in making these - plan on adding ½
hour to an hour onto the cooking time, due to lots of chopping and sauteing.
Recipe makes 12 white mushrooms. Portobelos equal approx 2-3 regular
mushrooms.
Preheat the oven to
350°
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Big Huge
Mushrooms for stuffing (In addition to stuffing regular white mushrooms you
find at the grocery store, Portobelos are great for stuffing as well.) Remove
stems and clean out the caps to create a cup for stuffing. Chop the stems and
remains of the caps, and set aside.
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| Add the
following items in proportions that make a sturdy stuffing for the mushrooms, a
stuffing that sticks together loosely, not like making bricks! |
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Pine
nuts - a handful or two |
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Garlic
cloves - at least 4 cloves, minced (the more the better!) |
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Medium-sized Shrimp - 4 or 5, depending on the size of the shrimp.
Shrimp should be cleaned, deveined and finely chopped |
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White
wine (about ½ cup - not quite enough to cover the mixture) |
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Couscous
(about 1 cup cooked per instructions on the box) |
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Feta
Cheese (approx 2" cube) |
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Butter
(optional) |
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Olive
oil |
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S&P
to taste |
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One egg
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| Brown pine
nuts in a fry pan on a high flame, tossing frequently, as they burn pretty
quick. When brown, remove from the pan and coarsely chop. Set aside.
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| In a fry pan
on a medium flame, heat enough olive oil to keep the garlic from sticking.
Brown the garlic, tossing it frequently so it doesn't stick. When browned, add
chopped pine nuts and stir together. Toss in chopped shrimp, stirring until
pink on all sides and well mixed with garlic and nuts. |
| Mix in chopped
mushrooms, and toss all ingredients together until well blended. Add white wine
and simmer until the wine is fully reduced and the mushrooms fully cooked,
about 5 minutes (depending on how much wine you've used - Julia Child, we drink
to you!). |
| Remove the
mixture from the heat and put into a mixing bowl. Crumble the feta cheese into
the mixture, and stir it all together until well blended - the feta should melt
in the hot mixture. If desired, add butter just for flavoring - a pat or two at
the maximum. It, too, should melt. |
| Ok, now here's
the part that relies on Hildy's grandmother's advice - "you'll see, if you need
more, you'll add it." Add enough cooked couscous to make the mixture fill the
mushroom caps. It shouldn't take a lot, but then again, it might. Just keep
adding and mixing. Depending on the size of the mushrooms, a large white
mushroom should hold approximately one heaping tablespoon of filling. Add salt
and pepper to taste, and an egg to help the stuffing keep altogether, and blend
the whole mixture together with a fork. |
| The mixture
should taste so good at this point that you should be tempted to eliminate the
stuffing and baking and just eat the mixture right out of the bowl. But
don't. |
| Coat the
outside of each mushroom cap in olive oil (it will absorb the oil quickly),
fill with the mixture, and place in a baking dish that has been lightly coated
with more olive oil. When the pan is full, if desired, sprinkle a bit of feta
cheese over each cap, to brown as it cooks. |
| Cook
approx 20 minutes to ½ hour (depending again on the size of the
mushrooms). When the mushroom caps themselves are cooked, the stuffed mushrooms
are ready. Feta sprinkled on the mushrooms will be browned when mushrooms are
fully cooked. |
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