I’ve always loved big stuffed mushrooms as appetizers, but they have to be warm and gooey (and not cold) so the idea here is to bake them inside a pastry shell, (even though upside-down mushroom caps are already shells) and to fill them up with creamy yet delicate creamy ingredients !

Of course, you’ll need the quite large mushrooms that measure at least 7 cm in diameter, to fit perfectly inside a mini-tartlet baking dish, which in this case, are the same ones that are used for making Portuguese pastel de nata sweet custard tartlets.

Mushrooms are perfect winter produce, even though available all year long and they can be used not only for dishes where they are the main ingredients but also in so many sauces and stocks and broths. I always save the stems for flavoring everything. They add depth to so many dishes. 

You can make one dozen of these little 2 or 3 bite morsels and very little preparation is required. 

You simply fry up the mushrooms a little first, to soften, brown and flavor them before placing them inside the circular short-crust pastry disks (or puff-pastry if you prefer) and then you proceed by adding the cheese, mushroom-stalk flavored béchamel sauce (I happen to often have some sauce handy because I freeze small portions of this creamy sauce when I make extra) and some spices and herbs.

They’re simple and perfect for the winter season and Valentine’s day … :)