Easy Appetizer: Bacon & Blue Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms have been a regular appetizer at my dinner parties for years. It's one of those dishes I always without fail get rave reviews on. I've always used a simple recipe including bread crumbs, Parmesan, and diced artichokes. Last year for the first time I switched up my stuffed mushroom recipe, and I came up with a new favorite, Bacon & Blue Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. These stuffed mushrooms are a quick and easy appetizer for your holiday dinner, and you can prep them ahead of time and assemble and bake right before serving.

INGEDIENTS

• 20 button mushrooms
• 10 slices bacon
• 8 oz blue cheese (Use grated blue marble jack cheese for an extra spicy kick.)
• 1 C finely grated parmesan
• 1 C fine bread crumbs
• 1 stick melted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prep the mushrooms: wipe clean with a damp paper towel (do not rinse or soak with water, because they'll absorb excess water - not a good thing for cooking with mushrooms), pull out stems and use a metal teaspoon to scoop out the dark brown part under the cap. Lightly coat a shallow baking or casserole dish with nonstick cooking oil. Arrange caps in the baking dish with the underside of the caps facing upward. Set aside. *You can do this part the night before if you want. Simply cover the baking dish and refrigerate.

2. Fry the bacon, crumble or chop it and put it into a large glass bowl.

3. Add remaining ingredients into bowl with the chopped bacon and mix well with a large spoon. *You could also use this as a stopping point the day before. Cover and refrigerate the filled mushrooms until you're ready to bake them.

4. Bake at 450 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Enjoy!