Venison Stuffed Mushrooms
I am always looking for ways to use unseasoned ground venison. Hunters have enough of it in the freezer, and we all make a lot of the same recipes with it. Here’s a fun little appetizer that uses ground venison to make an addicting morsel. I use tomato paste, olives and mozzarella cheese to make these crustless pizza bites. Yeah, I know I call them stuffed mushrooms, but they have the flavor profile of pizza. Prepping and cooking these is very easy — just make sure you bake them in a cast iron skillet or dark metal baking pan, otherwise the mushrooms will get soggy.
Ingredients
2 to 3 lbs of large whole white crimini or baby portabella mushrooms, depending on the size and shape of the mushrooms
1 lb ground venison, raw
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp dried thyme leaves
¾ tsp fennel seed
¼ tsp of cayenne pepper
½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp dried basil
3 - 4 cloves of garlic crushed
1 egg
3 oz tomato paste
½ can petite diced tomatoes (strained well) approximately 7 ounces
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
½ cup chopped green onion
1 3.8 oz can of sliced black olives
1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup Italian 3 cheese blend (parmesan, Romano, asiago)
¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove the stems from the caps of the mushrooms. Place the caps on a paper towel, stem side down to remove any additional moisture.
Press ½ can of tomatoes through a strainer, pressing down with the bottom of a bowl or a large spoon to remove as much moisture as possible.
Mix the raw ground venison with the dried spices. Add the egg, tomato paste and vinegar. Mix well. Next stir in the green onions, olives, mozzarella and Italian blend cheese. Lastly, mix in the Italian bread crumbs.
Stuff the mushroom caps with a large spoonful of the meat mix that would equal about ¾ the size of the mushroom.
Bake in a dark metal pan or cast iron skillet for approximately 20 to 25 minutes depending on the size of the mushroom. Enjoy!