Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

I absolutely love Cream Cheese and Mushrooms; so you can imagine my delight at the thought of Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. Before I start on the recipe, let me tell you how I discovered Cream Cheese.

I first discovered Cream Cheese when I went to US and Canada in 1999.

In those days, you had only one brand of cheese available in India, a processed cheese from Amul, which came in large round tins. Most of the other cheeses I had tasted were those got by Amma, and assorted friends and family when they were back from their “foreign trips”; but most of them were “solid” varieties of cheese like Cheddar, Mozzarella, or Blue Cheese.

So Cream Cheese or Philadelphia Cream Cheese, to be precise, was a revelation! I think I lived off Bagels and Cream Cheese for breakfast for almost a week. 🙂

When I first bought a tub of Cream Cheese, it came with this recipe for Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms and then I was in heaven. Mushrooms and Cream Cheese together!!!! I tried the recipe immediately and it has been a favourite ever since.

The other day, I was out shopping for staples when Britannia Cream Cheese caught my eye. I had just bought mushrooms, and needless to say, I could picture luscious stuffed mushrooms. I bought the cream cheese post haste and the rest as they say lies in the recipe.

How to Make Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

1. Mushrooms – 12
2. Cream Cheese – 100 gms
3. Onion – 1 Large
4. Pepper Powder – 1/2 tsp
5. Olive Oil – 2.5 tbsp
6. Salt to Taste

Method

1. Oil a baking tray with about 3/4 tbsp olive oil.
2. Clean 10 mushrooms with a soft cloth or tissue.
3. Gently break off the stems.
4. Oil the outside of the mushrooms generously with olive oil.
5. Set the mushrooms aside.
6. Select a few tender mushroom stems and chop them  to fine pieces.
7. Chop the 2 remaining mushrooms to fine pieces.
8. Peel and chop the onion to fine pieces.
9. In a wok/kadhai, heat 1 tbsp Olive Oil.
10. Add the onion pieces and fry till transparent.
11. Add the mushroom and mushroom stem pieces.
12. Stir-fry till tender.
13. Turn off the heat.
14. Wait till the onion-mushroom mix cools completely.
15. Add the cream cheese and pepper to the onion-mushroom mix.
16. Mix well.
17. Add salt, if required.
18. Mix well.
19. Spoon the cream cheese mix into the hollowed out mushrooms.
20. Place the mushrooms on the oiled baking tray.
21. Preheat the oven to 165°C.
22. Bake the stuffed mushrooms for about 15 minutes.
23. Turn off the oven and leave the mushrooms in the oven for about 10 minutes.
24. Serve warm.

Tips

• You can dip the stuffed mushrooms in breadcrumbs to add an extra touch of crunch! I use garlic flavoured bread crumbs. 🙂