I love appetizer parties – especially around the holidays. There is so much decadent food and appetizers give you that perfect bite. I love just having a taste of lots of different foods food. These Sausauge Stuffed Mushrooms are the perfect bite in my world. They combine the deep earthiness of the mushroom with slightly spicy sausage and the richness of cream cheese. Delicious!

They only take a few minutes to prepare and are baked and ready in 30 minutes! Enjoy!!

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

16 oz. Button Mushrooms
8 oz. Spicy Italian Sausage (the cream cheese will tone down the heat a lot)
4 oz. Cream Cheese
1/3 c. Panko Bread Crumbs
*Optional: Cayenne Pepper
Directions:

Gently clean dirt from mushrooms with a damp cloth. Remove stems from mushrooms and set aside. Arrange mushrooms top side down in a 9 x 13 pan.

Brown and crumble ground Italian Sausage in a pan over medium high heat until cooked through.

In a food processor add 1 cup of the mushroom stems and pulse several times to chop. Don’t have one? I use the Cuisinart Food Processor and love it. Christmas is coming – better add it to your list!

Add the ground sausage, bread crumbs and cream cheese and process until combined. Taste the mixture and add cayenne pepper for more heat ½ tsp at a time (this will depend on the type of sausage you purchase and your personal taste).