Directions

1. Begin by separating the stems from the caps. Put the cap of the mushroom in your palm and twist gently so as to not break the caps and remove each stem. Gently wipe each cap clean with wet paper towels. (rinse the stems and save for mushroom broth). Follow the same technique for the smaller mushrooms that will get chopped for the stuffing. Set both size mushrooms aside.

2. Wash the herbs and dry in paper towels. Set aside.

3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Chop the small mushroom caps. You can do this by pulsing briefly in a food processor or chopping with a chef’s knife. Don’t puree them in the food processor, just pulse briefly. Set aside.

5. Finely chop the peeled shallots (or red onion), the eggplant and the celery. You are going to be stuffing this mix into mushroom caps, so a very small dice works best. This is NOT an enormous amount of vegetables to chop and chopping by hand will give you a finer dice and the vegetables will be drier. Chopping in the food processor forces the vegetables to break down and exude much more liquid.

6. Mash the garlic cloves to a paste. Finely chop the sundried tomato halves. Set aside.

7. Pre-roast the large mushroom caps: Rub the caps with olive oil. Use your hands and lightly coat them on both top and bottom. Lightly oil 2 sheet pans. Divide the mushroom, cap side down on the 2 sheet pans. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Roast at 350 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes or just until the mushrooms begin to exude liquid. Remove sheet pans from oven and remove mushrooms to paper towels to dry them off. Collect and save the liquid for your mushroom broth that you are going to make with the stems! (see step #1 !) Don’t wash the sheet pans.

8. Pre-heat, on moderate heat, a sauté pan that is large enough to hold all the chopped vegetables. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the pan along with 2 tablespoons of butter. Add to the heated sauté pan: the chopped shallots (or onions), the chopped celery, and the chopped eggplant. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and a twist of fresh ground pepper. Sauté over medium to low heat until vegetables have softened. Add the reserved chopped mushroom caps, the diced sundried tomatoes and the mashed garlic. Season again with a bit more salt and pepper and continue to cook over medium to low heat until the mixture has softened completely. Let cool.

9. Add the grated mozzarella cheese to the mix and 2 tablespoons grated parmigiana cheese and combine thoroughly. Remove the leaves from the herb stems and chop. Add the chopped herbs to the filling mix. Taste and adjust seasoning. Mix in some breadcrumbs, one tablespoon at a time until the mixture holds its shape but does not seem dry.

10. Pack some stuffing into each cap, mounding the top a bit. Put back onto the sheet pans. Sprinkle a bit of grated parmigiana cheese over the top. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil.

11. Roast the stuffed mushrooms for 10 to 15 minutes.

12. For the meat-lovers: twirl a thin sliver of prosciutto or ham on some of the mushrooms when you plate them.

13. Enjoy Warm.