Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Mushrooms

I made these as an appetizer for our second anniversary dinner.  We celebrated by going to VOLT later in the summer, but on our anniversary we had a nice meal at home.  These I made on the spur of the moment.  I looked at our menu -- steaks, a bottle of red wine, and a panzanella salad and decided it would be nice to have an appetizer to snack on while we did the cooking.  Zach and I love cooking together and had planned to prepare our anniversary meal together; so I wanted these ready for us to snack on while we chopped and prepped.  I found the recipe on CookingLight.com.  It was written with smoked cheddar, but I love smoked mozzarella, so I made that substitution.  I think they turned out very yummy and delicious!  The smokiness of the cheese was a good play off the flavor of the mushrooms and the bread crumbs rounded everything out and held it all together.  

Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Mushrooms

adapted from CookingLight.com

Ingredients
Cooking spray
1/4 cup minced shallots (about 1 large)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound button mushrooms
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
 4 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese, diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon water

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 400°. 
• Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add minced shallots and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes or until tender. Place shallot mixture in a medium bowl. 
• Remove stems from mushrooms; chop stems. Add chopped mushroom stems, breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and smoked mozzarella cheese to shallot mixture; toss with a fork until blended. Add olive oil and 1 teaspoon water; stir well to combine. 
• Spoon about 1 tablespoon filling into each mushroom cap. Arrange mushrooms, filling side up, on a baking sheet. 
• Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until filling begins to brown and cheese melts. Serve warm.