We're off on our Silversea adventure with Chef Lidia Bastianich. Join us as we make our way from the mysterious, mystical city of Venice, to our journey's end: the eternal city - Roma. On our way to Rome, we'll visit Montenegro and Croatia, the beautiful eastern coast of Sicily, and my favorite - the fabulous Amalfi Coast.
Today, we're exploring Venice - and having lunch - with Lidia. Oh yeah, we know we'll be eating some marvelous food!
And in honor of Chef Lidia, here's one of her wonderful recipes: Stuffed Mushrooms.
Stuffed Mushrooms
Funghi Ripieni
Makes 6 servings
24 white or cremini mushrooms with caps about 1 1/2 inches in diameter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the tops of the mushrooms if you like
½ cup finely chopped scallion
½ cup of finely chopped red bell peppers
½ cup coarse breadcrumbs
½ cup grated Parmigiano‑Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
½ cup Chicken Stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup of dry white wine, optional
Serve these nice and hot, or let them cool to room temp. If you’d like to make this a little more contemporary, you can add a dash of balsamic vinegar to the red peppers and scallions as they cook. In true Italian-American style, these are topped with butter, if we made them in Italy, we would use olive oil. Best yet, maybe is to top them with butter, then ‘bless’ them all with a little olive oil.
This wonderful stuffing is delicious in celery stalks- bake them with a light tomato sauce. You can also line up blanched asparagus on a baking sheet, sprinkle the bread crumbs over them and bake them until the crumbs are crispy. I’m sure you can come up with a lot of uses for the bread crumbs. Remember, I give you the basics, but I want you to go play.
Preheat oven to 425 F. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them fine.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the scallions and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Stir in the red peppers and chopped mushroom stems and cook, stirring, until tender, about 3 minutes. Remove and cool.
Toss the bread crumbs, grated cheese, 2 tablespoons of the parsley and the sauteed vegetables until thoroughly blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity of each mushroom with the filling, pressing it in with a teaspoon until even with the sides of the mushrooms.
Using 2 tablespoons of the butter, grease a 12 x 18-inch low-sided baking pan. Arrange the mushrooms side by side in the pan and, using the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, dot the top of each mushroom with about 1/4 teaspoon butter. Add the wine, stock and remaining 2 tablespoons parsley to the pan. If you like, drizzle the tops of the mushrooms with olive oil. Bake until the mushrooms are cooked through and the bread crumbs are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Serve the mushrooms on a warmed platter or divide them among warmed plates. Pour the pan juices into a small saucepan and bring to a boil on top of the stove. Boil until lightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon the juices over the mushrooms and serve immediately.
And be sure and check out all the wonderful recipes at Lidia's Italy.
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