We're here for the right reasons...

We just want you to know that we don't rush into things and it has been hard for us to share our kitchens in the past.  Please be patient and hopefully we can all work through this together.  We just want you to know that we are here for the right reasons and we hope we can prove that to you.

       ...ok enough of The Bachelorette references, now onto a recipe to tie you over until we start posting more frequently!

It's been perfect fall weather here in Philadelphia lately, and no better time to welcome an old friend to her new home in the City of Brotherly Love.  One of our teammates from our college cross country team recently relocated here from Vermont, so we invited her over to Tall One's apartment for a Spatularette dinner, full of gossip and life updates.  It's always great to catch up with an old friend, and felt strangely similar to the many meals we shared together in our college cafeteria--just with better food!!

It was one of those days when we got a little bit carried away (which happens quite often) and ended up making way more food than we knew what to do with!  We started off the meal with a stuffed mushroom recipe Tall One created for a party she threw last month.  They disappeared quickly at the party and it was no different this time around.

So we present to you, The Spatularettes' first recipe:

Mediterranean Stuffed Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS:

6.5 oz jar of artichoke hearts, chopped

1 roasted red pepper, diced

6 oz of cream cheese (we prefer Kraft Philadelphia, obvi!)

6 oz package crumbled feta (about 1 cup)

1 clove of garlic, minced

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

2 10 oz packages baby portabella mushrooms

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with foil.  Pull the stems off of the mushrooms, wipe them clean with a damp paper towel and arrange on the cookie sheet.

For the filling, start by rinsing and finely chopping the contents of one jar of artichoke hearts.  Next, dice up a roasted red pepper.  If the peppers in your jar are not whole, just use a few large pieces.  Combine the peppers and artichoke hearts in a medium bowl and add the 6 oz of cream cheese (about ¾ of a block), the 6 oz of crumbled feta, and the minced garlic.  Stir until well combined.  Finally, add the panko bread crumbs ¼ cup at a time.  We used ¾ cup, but if your mixture is watery, you may want to use a little bit more.  The mixture should be soft, but not runny.

To fill the mushrooms, scoop tablespoons of the mixture into the well created by removing the stem.  As long as your filling isn’t runny, it will be easy to fill the mushrooms nice and full.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes.  Depending on the size of your mushrooms, you may need to adjust baking times slightly.  The mushroom will be soft and the filling will be hot and golden brown when done.

Hopefully you'll think we deserve a rose for this one! ;-)