Want a Thanksgiving savory snack or New Yr’s Eve handed hors d’oeuvres? Open up a bottle of wine or pour some martinis and go round a tray of those simple sausage stuffed mushrooms. Your pals will discuss.

Nice stuffed mushrooms pack numerous taste right into a small bundle, hitting earthy, salty, and umami notes . They’re the best occasion meals, so it is no shock that they’ve remained common at the same time as different festive meals have come and gone. At their finest, they mix textures—a tender filling, crispy topping, and a young however barely chewy and completely browned mushroom exterior—and are sufficiently small to eat in a single chew.

However at their worst, these lovely umami bites may be soggy, bland, and rubbery, and doubtless the very last thing you need to eat on the occasion buffet. Fortunately for us, our Birmingham, Alabama-based take a look at kitchen colleague Renu Dhar stuffed mushroom cap after cap, testing and tweaking, till she perfected this simple, party-worthy sausage stuffed mushroom recipe. They’re the best simple, crowd-pleasing occasion hors d’oeuvres, however with simply quarter-hour of prep time and one other quarter-hour within the oven, you actually don’t want a celebration to get pleasure from these little beauties. 

To make sure a flavorful filling, Renu begins with scorching Italian sausage for the stuffing base. She fortunately found in her testing that the sausage would not have to be cooked earlier than going into the mushrooms, which saves you time and cuts down on soiled pans. A splash of excellent dry crimson wine, plus some garlic, thyme, oregano, and crimson pepper flakes season the savory filling whereas Parmigiano-Reggiano provides richness and ensures a serious punch of umami in each chew.

Generously sprinkling panko breadcrumbs over the stuffed caps earlier than baking supplies a contrasting crunch, and a intelligent cooking technique prevents the mushrooms from turning soggy. As an alternative of baking the mushrooms on a sheet pan or in a baking dish, Renu discovered that utilizing a forged iron skillet to roast the stuffed mushrooms captures and concentrates the mushrooms’ juices, leading to deeper taste because the mushrooms reabsorb this potent liquid. The forged iron skillet retains warmth effectively and successfully browns the underside of the mushrooms, guaranteeing they gained’t flip soggy.

The end result? Scrumptious, savory sausage stuffed mushrooms that come collectively in beneath a half hour. Now that’s one thing to rejoice.