Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushroom with Ham

These cream cheese stuffed mushroom is one of my favorite snacks that I can munch of anytime of the day. It is very creamy, savory, flavorful, juicy and ‘meaty’. An explosion of flavor in a bite! Plus, it’s low carb! If you are vegetarian, you can omit the ham altogether. It will still be packed with flavor burst.

This appetizer of stuffed mushroom is so easy to make that it is usually one of my go-to-recipes for party or any kind of big gathering. It is a great idea for Thanksgiving as well. I was inspired by the recipe in the Philadelphia cream cheese packaging few years ago. Since then, I have been tweaking it to my liking and, voila, that’s how this cream cheese stuffed mushroom with ham came about.

The leftover of the stuffing can be used to serve as a dip or stuffed mini bell pepper or, better yet, cream cheese devil egg! The sky is the limit. If you can think of other things, let me know please. Let’s get cooking!

Tip: Pour the stuffing mixture into a Ziploc. Seal it and cut one bottom corner. This way, it will be easy to pour the stuffing mixture to the mushroom caps.

Ingredients:

• 16 oz or 450 gr white mushroom
• 1 pack (8 oz or 225 gr) cream cheese
• 3 slices ham – chopped finely
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese (to sprinkle)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celcius).
• Brush a baking sheet with ½ tablespoon of olive oil. Clean mushrooms and separate the stem from the mushroom caps. Chop the stems finely.
• Pre-heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan under medium heat. Add minced garlic, chopped ham and chopped mushroom stems to the pan. Fry until it is a bit brownish or about 2 minutes. Set aside.
• Add cream cheese, black pepper, paprika powder and the garlic-ham-mushroom stems mixture into the mixing bowl. The heat from the mixture will softened the cream cheese so it will be easy to mix. The stuffing is ready.
• Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared baking sheet. Then, fill the mushroom caps with the stuffing. You can use spoon or a Ziploc* (see tip above)
• Put the stuffed mushrooms into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until the mushroom caps is a bit brownish.
• Once it’s done, sprinkle it with parmesan cheese for an extra kick. Enjoy!