Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms

It is freezing, it is pouring with rain, it is windy, miserable and cold and rubbish.

I stubbornly wore my new shorts all day (admittedly with a large woolly jumper, socks and slippers) and ate healthy healthy (freezing) salad for lunch, but by supper time my will was worn down, I put trousers on, more socks and cooked hot comforting food.

Sausages will solve any problem.

Here is a seriously tasty dish to rustle up in fairly short time.  Very adaptable and good enough for a dinner party as well as a hearty relaxed supper, a light lunch or a tasty breakfast.

Quantities are far from exact, it entirely depends on the occasion and what you fancy!

You will need:

Large flat mushrooms

Plain or flavoured sausage meat/de-skinned sausages (free range or organic is best, or better still get them from your local butcher)

Splash of ale/wine/sherry/port/ginger wine

Freshly ground black pepper

Mashed/finely sliced garlic

Place the sausage meat in a bowl with the alcohol, garlic, pepper and mix well with any of the following (optional) extras:

• Chopped apple with thyme/sage, sherry/ale
• Sweet chilli sauce, finely chopped sweet pepper, red wine
• Cooked chestnuts, apple, thyme, sherry
• Mustard, finely sliced fried bacon, ale
• Apple, ginger wine, mustard
• Caramelised onion, port
• Any of the above in any combination!

Wipe any earth from the mushrooms and pull out the stalks, stuff with the sausage (making slightly rounded but no thicker than 1 inch) and place on a greased tray.

Any leftover meat can go on the tray around the mushrooms, either to be served alongside, or to stuff in a roll with ketchup and lettuce for lunch the next day.  Bake for 30 mins at 190C/gas mark 5, checking that the sausage is cooked all the way through and not pink in the centre before serving.

Serve with:

Entirely dependant on what you want from it you could do:

• Steamed vegetables
• Buttery mashed potato/parsnip/celeriac/carrot/swede
• Roast vegetables
• Roasted/fried tomatoes
• Hefty toast (no pre-sliced, bagged bread in sight, you need a good loaf, a sharp knife, and slices at least 2cm thick)
• Crusty bread/rolls

The Twist:

• Add breadcrumbs to the sausage meat and sprinkle a few on top for a crusty topping
• Top with a shortcrust or puff pastry lid (cut the pastry quite big so that is droops down the sides) - great for a dinner party
• Swap the mushrooms for puff pastry and make amazing sausage rolls