Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms

This dish can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and put in the refrigerator until you're ready to put in the oven.

Ingredients:
5 pints of button mushrooms
4 Italian sausages
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 yellow onions, minced
5 garlic cloves, minced
5 ounces Asiago cheese, shredded
7 T extra virgin olive oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparing the mushrooms:
Wipe mushrooms clean with a damp cloth and pull out the stems and save for another use (mushroom soup, stuffed chicken breasts, etc.). Toss the cleaned de-stemmed mushrooms with 5 tablespoons of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Spread out on a sheet pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Set aside and cool.

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Preparing the stuffing:
Slit the Italian sausage and remove casing. Crumble in a heated pan and saute until golden brown. Break up into small pieces while it is cooking. Set aside and cool.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan and add the onions. Cook until dark and caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for a minute.

Add the cooked sausage, onions and garlic, cream cheese, salt and pepper, and 3 ounces of shredded Asiago cheese to a bowl; mix well with your hands. Break apart any large pieces of sausage.

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Stuffing the mushrooms:
Line up your mushrooms in a greased baking dish with the core side facing up. Stuff each mushroom with a generous portion of the creamy sausage mixture. Top the mushrooms with the remaining Asiago cheese.

Put the baking dish in a pre-heated oven at 375 degress F for roughly 45 minutes or until the cheese on top is golden brown.

Serves 15 to 20