Karl’s Shrimp and Wild Rice Stuffed Mushrooms

Timing is always a challenge when making a Thanksgiving’s day meal, so an appetizer or two is always a good idea to keep the hordes at bay. While Eilene hates mushrooms, everyone else loves them. This is a dish you can cook slightly ahead and quickly re-warm just before serving.

Karl’s Shrimp and Wild Rice Stuffed Mushrooms

Karl’s Shrimp and Wild Rice Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

12-16 medium to large button mushrooms
2-3 Tbs. olive oil

6-8 medium shrimp
2 Tbs. wild rice, cooked
2 Tbs. green onion, minced
½ tsp. fresh thyme
Pinch Kosher salt
Pinch black pepper

Directions

1. Wipe any dirt off of the mushroom caps and remove the stems.

Tip: Use a sharp, narrow spoon to scrap out any large pieces of gill.

2. Set the mushroom caps hole side down and brush them with the olive oil.

3. Mince the shrimp finely and add the wild rice.

4. Lightly chop the shrimp and rice together.

Tip: Wild rice has very long grains. You want to cut them up a bit, but you do not want to mince them into a paste.

5. Put the shrimp and rice into a small bowl and add the green onion, thyme, salt, and pepper.

6. Use a spatula to mix the ingredients together well.

Tip: You do not want to over work the mixture, but as you mix the filling the proteins in the shrimp will link up to hold your stuffing together.

7. Use a spoon to fill each mushroom cap.

Note: Depending on how much filling you end up with, or the number of mushroom caps you are trying to fill, you may stuff the caps just full or have a heaping mound of stuffing rising above the mushroom.

8. Pam a small, lipped, baking sheet and place the mushrooms—cap side down—so that they are not toughing each other.

Tip: You want the heat of the oven to reach all parts of the mushrooms.

Note: As they roast, the mushrooms will release a fair amount of liquid. If you do not use a lipped tray it will spill all over your oven.

9. Put the mushrooms in a pre-heated 350º F oven for 15-20 minutes.

Tip: You want the stuffing cooked through, but you do not want the mushrooms to shrivel down to nothing.

10. Let them cool slightly and transfer them to a serving dish.

11. Serve warm.

Note: You may bake them up to two hours earlier and reheat them in a warm oven for five minutes.

Tip: If putting them on hold for more than 30 minutes, cover and refrigerate.