I met my best friend Daniela during my B.A. studies. We didn’t immediately click – Tough me, and shy (then) her…
But somehow by the time the year rolled to an end we clicked a little and decided to live together in the dorms second year.
This, as they say, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Since I worked nights, we would eat dinner around 9 or 10p.m… Sometimes when we couldn’t be bothered to cook, we’d drop by a local restaurant (Rosso).
At the time they had a divine stuffed-mushroom starter…
Being the poor students that we were, we couldn’t really eat there regularly, so I decided to try and recreate it at home.
After a few trials (some bad, some good), I came up with this amazing recipe, which I still make for Daniela when I feel like pampering her (if she’s been good).
She was even willing to suffer through it again, so I could verify the accurate amounts for you – isn’t she altruistic?
True, I can no longer eat mushrooms, but why should you suffer? 🙂
This is not a gorgeous dish, very monochromatic, but trust me – it is worth the effort!
Ingredients
20 button mushrooms
1 roll of soft goat cheese
For the Béchamel Sauce:
2 cups milk or goats-milk
1 full tbsp flour (for a gluten-free version use 1 flat tbsp of cornstarch)
100 gr. butter or goats-milk butter
2 tbsp Brandy
1½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt
Topping: 200 gr. thinly sliced hard Mozzarella cheese
Preparation
De-stem the mushrooms.
Fill each mushroom cap with the soft goat cheese and grind a little kosher salt on top.
Place the stuffed mushroom caps close together in a pan lined with baking paper.
Sauce Preparation:
In a pan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour and mix well until there are no lumps.
Add the milk and stir until the sauce thickens (about 4-5 minutes).
Season with salt and ground nutmeg, and fix to taste (if necessary). Add the Brandy and stir well.
Let cook for 2-3 additional minutes and remove from heat.
Putting it all together:
Pour the Béchamel sauce over your mushroom caps.
Cover with slices of hard Mozzarella.
Bake in an oven preheated to 190C/375F until your caps soften, and the cheese is molten and golden-brown (approx. 20-25 minutes).
Serve with fresh Baguette or white bread with crunchy crust.
