Quinoa stuffed mushrooms
Coming from a Middle Eastern background if there is one thing I learnt in the kitchen is that we love to stuff, especially vegetables and I have to say, I do love a deliciously stuffed vegetable. My granny used to stuff, all kinds of vegetables, us too when we were babies, that’s who I blame and shame for my weight-challenged body….
One vegetable we didn’t grow up eating are mushrooms. I got my first taste of mushrooms not long after we arrived in Australia, I have never looked back. Not long after discovering mushrooms, I got a taste of my first stuffed mushroom at one of the fancy, shmantzy barmitzva functions I attended. Stuffed mushrooms were all the rage and while all the kids were turning their noses up at the these fun fungi I was more than happy to relieve the little Philistines of the burden of eating them. I think I left that bar mitzva a kilo heavier despite my non-stop fancy foot work performed to the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever on the disco dance floor. Yes, I was quiet the dancing queen in my hay day as you will discover on this Facebook page this Saturday morning, so stay tuned…
Tasty and fleshy, these stuffed mushies will caress your pallet with the rich flavour of Parmigiano Reggiano. The delicate, subtle milky flavoured mozzarella will melt in your mouth while the fetta adds a touch of tanginess for a little zing. What can I say people, it’s an experience you won’t forget.
Ingredients
For the quinoa
½ cup quinoa
1 vegetable stock cube
1 ¼ cup hot water
¼ cup white wine
Mushroom stuffing ingredients
10 mushrooms white mushrooms approx. 90g each
1 medium size onion (177g) diced
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic
¼ teaspoon cumin & a pinch
¼ teaspoon cinnamon & a pinch
salt and pepper
fistful of continental parsley leaves finely chopped
¼ cup pine nuts roasted
½ cup of grated mozzarella (I recommend that you don’t buy the pre-shredded one
5 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan cheese
45 g marinated fetta
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C
Line a baking tray with baking paper
Dissolve the vegetable stock in 1 & ¼ cups of hot water.
Place a small pot over medium to high flame. Place the quinoa in the pot. Pour wine and stir. Pour stock and stir. Cover with lid and bring liquid to the boil.
Reduce heat and let the quinoa simmer until all the liquid has evaporated and the quinoa is cooked through: about 15min-23min. (If all the liquid is absorbed before quinoa is cooked through, just add a little more water.)
While quinoa is cooking, prepare the stuffing:
In a pan over medium heat, cook the onion with two tablespoons of oil. Lower the heat and cook on low for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove mushroom stem by pulling it out gently, cut stem into small pieces. Crush garlic.
Add butter and garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant: about one min.
Add the chopped stems and stir occasionally: 5 minutes.
Stir in the cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper, add chopped parsley to the mixture. Stir for a couple of minutes and remove from heat.
Transfer mushroom filling to a bowl and stir in toasted pine nuts
and cooked quinoa. Crumble fetta with your hands and stir into quinoa and mushroom mixture. Stir in parmesan and mozzarella.
Spoon filling into mushrooms, and place mushrooms on prepared tray and cook for 10-15 min. A couple of minutes before mushrooms are ready to be taken out, sprinkle a little more mozzarella on each mushroom.
Remove from oven and garnish with finely chopped parsley and some more pine nuts, drizzle with tahini or not.