Cheese and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Yield:   16 appetizer servings
Cook Time:   10 minutes
Tips:  May also be made with smaller mushrooms, producing more smaller servings, or with larger mushrooms, producing fewer larger servings. Sweet Italian sausage may be used instead of hot Italian sausage, if desired. If you don't have dried Italian seasoning, one or more of a variety of dried herbs may be used (see recipe directions for examples). Other cheese may be used instead of Monterey jack if desired, such as cheddar, pepper jack, swiss, mozzarella, etc.)
Ingredients
Directions
Remove stems from mushrooms by either gently twisting base until they break off, or by using a sharp knife. Remove any remaining stem pieces from mushrooms to create a nice cavity. Dice stems and set aside. Generously coat inside and outside of each mushroom cap with olive oil and place open side up on a baking sheet or baking dish.

Sprinkle the insides of mushroom caps with some crushed
and dried Italian seasoning (if you don't have Italian seasoning handy, one or more of a variety of dried herbs, such as marjoram, rosemary, sage, oregano, basil and savory may be used).

Remove casings from sausage. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and heat until hot. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in sausage, crushing with spoon into smaller pieces as you cook. Cook until sausage has no pink color remaining, then stir in chopped mushroom stems and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in green onions and sauté for one more minute. Add Worcestershire (if using) and salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine.

Spoon sausage mixture (using a small spoon) into each mushroom cap. Top each mushroom with the shredded cheese and broil 10-12 inches from heating unit for about 2 minutes, or just until cheese has begun to melt.