Bruschetta Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms and bruschetta are two of my favorite appetizers, I thought why not combine them and see what happens. Scrumptious is what happens! These bites are full of umami from the mushrooms and bright fresh flavors from the bruschetta toppings.

Why I love this appetizer

There are many reasons to love this delicious appetizer besides the taste and the fact that you can make the components of this recipe ahead of time and assemble them right before serving, making this easy for a dinner party. You can even grab a friend and have them assemble it for you while you welcome your guests. There is always that friend who would rather stay busy than stand around. Another great thing about this appetizer is that it is an all-season appetizer. Granted, in the summer, when all the produce is at its peak, this will be the best; however, it’s also great in the winter; we all need a good hit of fresh ingredients come February. The world needs more mushroom recipes, so I have been working on ideas for stuffed mushrooms for some years now. I have made this recipe many different ways over the years; I hope you will agree it is the best of both worlds; bruschetta meets stuffed mushrooms and lives happily ever after!

Gather these ingredients

How to make bruschetta stuffed mushrooms

First step: Add one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place cleaned and stemmed mushrooms gill side down in the pan. Saute for 5 minutes, flip, and saute for an additional 5 minutes. When soft and browned on both sides, remove the mushrooms to a paper towel lined baking sheet. The paper towel will soak up any excess water. This step will take 10-15 minutes total. 

Bruschetta filling: Because the mushrooms are smaller than a traditional baguette toast, you want to make sure that the tomatoes and onion are chopped very small. I chop the Roma tomatoes and place them in a sieve over a bowl to allow any access liquid to drain. Add drained, diced tomatoes into a medium-sized bowl, add finely chopped red onion, one tablespoon of chopped basil leaves, and grated garlic clove, drizzle in a little olive oil (about 1 tbsp), and add a pinch of salt and black pepper. Toss tomato mixture together and set aside. 

Simple bruschetta topping: Add croutons to a food processor and pulse until you have a fine crumble. Wipe the skillet you used for the mushrooms out with a paper towel, there is no need to thoroughly wash. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to the pan over medium heat; add crouton crumbs—toast crouton crumbs for 10 minutes or until they are toasted. Do not walk away from the pan; keep moving crumbs around. You do not want to burn the bruschetta topping. Set pan aside and allow topping to cool. You can also remove it to a plate if you want it to cool faster. When the bruschetta topping is cool, toss in shredded Parmesan cheese. 

Assembly: Save the last step of assembly until just before serving. Use a small spoon to fill each mushroom cap with tomato mixture. Place the mushrooms close to each other on a platter. Now, spoon crouton topping over each mushroom. (By placing the mushrooms close to each other, you can avoid having more topping on the platter than the mushrooms; you can move them apart a little after the assembly is finished.) Sprinkle extra grated parmesan and fresh chopped basil over the top. 

Tips & Variations

• Tomatoes: It can be hard to find good tomatoes all year round in Michigan. We do have some decent greenhouse varieties these days, but most of them are small cherry tomatoes or the Campari variety, which are generally very good even in the winter. If you cannot find Roma tomatoes that are fresh off the vine, use cherry tomatoes (such as the flavor bombs) or Campari tomatoes as a substitute. 
• Types of cheese: My preference is shredded Parmesan, but I have tried a few others that taste great. Finely crumbled feta I only add on top, not in with the crouton crumble. Reggiano works well. I would say, as a rule, stick to a dry cheese that can be finely grated. 
• Garnish: Additional garnish always adds flavor and gives a dish eye appeal. Do not leave off the addition of a sprinkle of fresh chopped basil and some extra shredded Parmesan before serving. I have also drizzled a balsamic glaze on the platter before plating the mushrooms, this adds flavor and visual appeal as well! There are many different ways you could garnish this appetizer, get creative!

I love a good fusion dish! I just took bruschetta and flipped it upside down on a mushroom cap to create an appetizer that everyone loves when I make it. Please take a few seconds, give this recipe a star rating below in the recipe card, and PIN it to your favorite appetizer board! Thank you! XO Sheila