Spicy Sausage Stuffed Monterey Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 24 medium mushroom caps

• 1 (16 ounce) package hot ground pork breakfast sausage or regular ground pork breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean is good)
• 8 ounces cream cheese or neufchatel cheese, I use Neufchatel
• 2 ounces monterey jack cheese or monterey jack pepper cheese, shredded
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes, less for less heat
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions

1. 1

   Wash the mushrooms and pat dry with paper towels.

2. 2

   Remove the stems and set aside (they can be minced and added to the sausage mixture later is desired).

3. 3

   Preheat oven to 350.

4. 4

   Cook and crumble the sausage in a large skillet until done, drain, and place in a mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese, jack cheese, crushed red pepper flakes and minced stems if desired. Mix well.

5. 5

   Place 1 heaping teaspoon of the mixture into each mushroom cap.

6. 6

   Place the stuffed mushroom caps on a rimmed baking pan, sprinkle with parmesan, and bake for 20 minutes.

7. 7

   Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

8. 8

   Serve stuffed mushrooms on a decorative serving platter.

9. 9

   Sometimes I make them ahead and line a tupperware with papertowels and put them in it. Then they are ready to bake just before the event.