Reading about this region of Sicily, I learned the locals tend to employ skillful combinations of regional products to include mushrooms, fennel and olives. So, for this stage, I decided to do a riff on a Thanksgiving family-favorite appetizer my mom always makes: stuffed mushrooms. I also discovered a really awesome regional cheese called piacentino ennese, which is a sheep’s milk cheese infused with saffron and has black peppercorns. I love saffron and manchego and really wanted to do something with this particular cheese. I did a little research and found the only piacentino ennese in the US was located in an Eataly in Los Angeles, nearly 3,000 miles away. So, I headed to the supermarket to see what I could find. I figured I’d only find manchego, but was pleasantly surprised to find an Italian sheep’s milk cheese with peppercorns at Wegmans. To get the saffron flavor into the dish, I steeped some in water and added it to the handmade italian sausage from Springfield Butcher along with the other items in the stuffing.
One thing I’ve learned while going through this Covid pandemic, especially early on when grocery store shelves were bare, is that you have to be open to adaptation. When faced with adverse situations in the kitchen, or in life, as opposed to dwelling on the negative you just gotta quickly pivot and find a way to a winning situation. I guess I used those skills well to get around my cheese issue, because these stuffed mushrooms were fantastic. I served them atop a bed of dandelion greens which I found at my local farmers market. It was my first time using these types of greens at home and they had a great nutty, but bright, counterbalance to the earthy mushrooms. I can’t wait to bring these to the Thanksgiving table this year and introduce them to my family.
Stuffed Mushrooms
3 lbs mushrooms (baby bella or white)
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 italian sausage (sweet or spicy)
Saffron
2 fennel bulbs
Green olives
Sheep's milk cheese
Parsely
Bread
Garlic
Prepare the mushrooms by cleaning them with a brush or paper towel and slicing off a thin piece of the tough-end of the mushroom. Then pull the remaining stem from the mushroom and set aside on your cutting board. Place the mushroom caps on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil with a light coating of cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 and preheat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with 2 tbsp of evoo over medium heat. Remove the casing from your sausages and butterfly the sausage meat. Place cut-side down in the skillet and cook until browned, then flip and brown on the other side. Leaving any excess drippings in the skillet, remove the meat to a paper-towel lined plate to cool.
Meanwhile, drop 2 pinches of saffron (rub the threads between your fingers to make tiny pieces) into a small bowl and pour ½ cup hot water over the threads and let steep. Core the fennel, and discard the outermost layer, giving the remaining a petite dice. Dice the reserved mushroom stems. In the now-empty skillet, heat a tablespoon of evoo and add the diced fennel and mushroom stems with a pinch of salt and saute for about 10 minutes, until soft. While the veg cooks, grate ½ cup of the cheese, and mince a handful of parsley leaves and throw into a large bowl. Using the end of a bread loaf, tear it into bite-size pieces and pulse in a mini-food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs and pour most of them into the large bowl, adding a pinch of salt and pepper. Mince the sausage and throw into the skillet with the cooking vegetables. Mince ½ cup of green olives and add in with the fennel. Mince a large clove of garlic and stir constantly into the fennel and olives until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then stir in the saffron broth until absorbed. Dump the pan contents into the large bowl, season with black pepper, and give a good stir to incorporate everything and let cool slightly.
Using a spoon, or your hands (it’s messy, but much quicker), place the stuffing into the mushroom caps and press the contents down and top with more stuffing making nice heaps. Top with the remaining breadcrumbs. Drizzle with olive oil and grate some more cheese on top and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. Garnish with additional grated cheese.
Dandelion Greens Salad
This bright salad is a good counter to rich or earthy items. Be careful not to overdress the delicate greens.
Dandelion greens
Sherry vinegar
Walnut oil
Pecorino or similar cheese
Using a 3-to-1 ratio, mix 3 parts vinegar to 1 part oil. Lightly dress the greens and season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper. Garnish with a few shavings of cheese.
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Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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