mushroom cups

(This picture does not do these little beauties justice at all! By the time I remembered to snap this photo, our party was under way and the mood was not quite serious for good photos. Trust me, these are excellent!)

One of my favorite appetizers, easy to prepare ahead, great for the freezer and absolutely delicious, these little cups are a thing of beauty. And all from a lowly slice of white bread and some mushrooms. They are a little fussy to make, but not difficult.

Here’s what you need:

24 slices of white bread, cut into 3 inch rounds (I use a ½ Cup measuring cup)

5 T butter

¼ C minced onion

½ pound mushrooms, minced

2 T flour

1 Cup half-and-half

½ t salt and pepper to taste 

1/8 t cayenne pepper

1 ½ T fresh parsley, minced

1 t lemon juice

3 T Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on the top

Here’s what you do:

Cut 3 inch circles from each slice of bread and carefully place in 1/8 cup muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes. (These are so cute and toasty!)

Melt butter and slowly soften the minced onions for about 3-4 minutes – don’t brown them.

Add the mushrooms and cook on low for about 10 minutes or until the liquid from the mushrooms is evaporated.

Stir in the flour. Add the half-and-half. Continue to cook over low heat until it is very thick, maybe 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, parsley and seasonings.  Carefully fill each cup using two small spoons. There should be enough mushroom mixture to generously fill 24 cups, plus one big spoonful for the cook ( J ) Sprinkle each cup with Parmesan cheese.

From this point you can continue to cook them for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese on top is nice and brown. Or you can freeze them and cook them from their frozen state for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Enjoy!

(printable recipe)