Stuffed Mushrooms with Walnuts & Goat's Cheese

I have to break my blog's long streak of baked desserts with this wonderful dish which can either be a vegetarian main meal (without the bacon of course) or an appetiser. Adapted from next month's edition (Nov 2006) of the BBC GoodFood magazine, walnuts are in season now so I thought of doing this while these nuts are still relatively cheap. I was already preparing to dislike it when the bacon began to unravel and spill out the contents in 2 of the mushrooms. But I was pleasantly surprised with its yumminess - the bland mushroom going well with the creamy goat's cheese, the crunch of the walnuts and the smoky saltiness of the bacon. Lovely eaten with some leafy salad on the side.

The original recipe called for the bacon to be tied around the mushroom. But either my mushrooms were too big or the bacon rashers were too short that it didn't have much to give to tie it. So I put it in place with toothpicks and just removed them before serving. Another deviation I made is with the mushrooms. It was supposed to be open cup but I can't find any so I got the next best thing - big closed cup ones which I just sliced off the stem and the part around it making it effectively 'open cup'. It worked well if I may say so. :)




Stuffed Mushrooms with Walnuts & Goat's Cheese

6-8 open cup mushrooms, stalks removed
2 Tbsp oil
2 shallots or 1 small onion - chopped
1 garlic clove - finely minced
80 g  [1/2 cups] chopped walnuts
2 tsp chopped fresh sage leaves or 1 tsp dried
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
175 g  firm goat's cheese - sliced into 6-8 pieces
6-8 thin rashers streaky bacon

1. Preheat oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet and place mushrooms stem side up on it.
3. Fry the onion in oil until soft.
4. Add garlic, herbs, chopped walnuts, and seasonings (salt/pepper). Remove from heat.
5. Spoon the walnut mixture in the mushrooms. Top with a slice of goat's cheese.
6. Tie a rasher of bacon around each mushroom (tied at the top). If the rashers are not long enough for tying, secure on the mushrooms with toothpicks.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and the bacon crisp.
8. Remove toothpicks (if using) before serving.