A post-Thanksgiving blogpost...what should I blog about?  Off of my Facebook page I received
lots of requests for a recipe for that picture you see above..I've done a few stuffed mushrooms
posts in the last year, but this one is slightly different. It's, to the best of my recollections, my
mom's HOLIDAY stuffed mushroom recipe.  Every holiday table in our house, regardless of
which one it was, was graced by a platter or tray of these mushrooms.  A sausage, multi-
cheese, bacon or prosciutto, breadcrumb, oregano, and garlic winey recipe where the
mushrooms were braised in a simple sauce of crushed tomatoes, basil, olive oil and sauteed
onion and garlic.   Sometimes she did a little more of this, a little less of that..but it always
came out tasting great, and consequently, it's what the holidays in our family taste like.
   This is the creator of the recipe...Assunta (Susan)
Scaramuzzi Battaglia, my late mom..btw, that's a cake I made for her, April 5, 1990...my cake decorating
phase..didn't last long..but she loved it.  I was asked by my sister to bring the stuffed mushrooms for
Thanksgiving on Thursday, and since I've already posted some different recipes, I didn't do my step
by step pix..just a few of the finished product..So...let's wing this:
36 mushrooms, (not the big stuffing ones, the regular white buttons), detach the stems, and chop them
sauteeing them in a pan with 2 tbs. olive oil, when they start to soften up and brown, add 1 minced clove
of garlic, and 1 tsp. of crushed dried oregano, 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes.  Then add 1/2 tsp. salt, and
1/8 cup of sherry or marsala.  Let this evaporate.  Then remove them and place in a large mixing bowl.
In the same pan, saute' 1 lb. of loose Italian sweet fennel sausage meat.  This must fully cook, so keep
breaking it up with a spoon and move it around.  When it's looking close to done, add 1 minced clove
of garlic and 1/8 cup of sherry or marsala.  Let this evaporate out and add the sausage to the bowl.
Pre heat your oven to 375 degrees.  Now, in a separate saucepan, heat 1 tbs. olive oil, 1 tsp. crushed
fennel seeds, i small minced onion, 1 minced garlic clove, all together and saute' till fragrant.  Then add
salt and pepper.  Add 1 can of crushed Italian tomatoes and 3 torn basil leaves.  Let this cook for 15-20
minutes. 

While the tomatoes are cooking, add 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano, 1/8 cup fine diced provolone,
1/8 cup shredded mozzarella, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and 2 tsps. olive oil to the bowl of sausage and
mushrooms.  1/8 lb. chopped prosciutto. Blend well with your hands until you can form small balls with the mixture.  If you
need it to be a tighter, lightly add more breadcrumbs until it gets to the consistency you need...not
a hard packed ball, just one that will hold its' shape.  Add the tomato to the bottom of a large baking
dish, about 1/8 " deep.  Now start stuffing the mushrooms, packing the stuffing into them with about
1/2inch coming up from the top..no real science here..just don't understuff them or the tops will
dry out before the bottoms cook.  When you are all done, pop the pan into the oven and cook for
25minutes, then turn the pan and cook for an additional 10 minutes..however, if you see the tops
drying out, cover with foil for the remaining 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and baste the
stuffed mushrooms with the tomato and let sit for a good 5 minutes before serving. 
Keep plenty of good bread on hand to sop up the mushroom-tomato sauce...a great starter or
appetizer..(isn't that the same thing??)
Consider this recipe a Holiday gift from my Mom....