Chicken Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pop the bottoms out of the mushrooms (it does not have to be perfect) and place the mushroom caps on a baking sheet.
2. Bake the mushroom caps for 10 minutes to partially cook them and release the moisture. Once baked, turn onto a paper towel to catch all extra moisture.
3. Meanwhile, remove the sausages from the casing and add to a large saucepan. Cook on medium-high, breaking up the sausage into small pieces until fully cooked through. Remove cooked sausage from the pan and set aside.
4. Set the pan to low and add butter, olive oil, minced onions and peppers. Sauté these until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic, salt/pepper to taste and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Mix altogether and let cook 1-2 minutes until garlic is fragrant.
5. Add the cooked chicken sausage back in the pan. Turn the heat off the pan. Add in the cream cheese and minced parsley. Let the heat of the veggies melt the cream cheese and mix thoroughly. Once mixed, fold in the shredded mozzarella.
6. At this point everything can be refrigerated if you want to do this in advance. When ready to prep your appetizer, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a teaspoon (and your fingers) to spoon the cheesy sausage mixture into the mushrooms caps. Fill them all and place them evenly on a sheet pan. You can place extra shredded mozzarella cheese on top before baking. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
7. Extra sausage mix can be frozen and used later.