Italian Stuffed Mushrooms

36 medium whole fresh mushrooms (1 pound)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped green onion (3 medium)
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
Grated Parmesan cheese, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Twist mushroom stems to remove from mushroom caps. Finely chop enough stems to measure 1/3 cup. Reserve mushroom caps.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chopped mushroom stems, onions and bell pepper in butter about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are softened; remove from heat. Stir in bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Fill mushroom caps with bread crumb mixture.
4. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches, in oven. Place mushrooms, filled sides up, in pan. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15 minutes.
5. Set oven control to Broil. Broil mushrooms with tops 3 to 4 inches from heat about 2 minutes or until tops are light brown. Serve hot.


Do-Ahead Tip
Preparing for a party? Stuff, cover and refrigerate the mushrooms up to 24 hours ahead. Then when you're ready for hot appetizers, simply start with step 4.
Substitution
If you use Italian-seasoned bread crumbs, you can decrease the Italian seasoning to about 1 teaspoon.


Number of Servings: 36

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user MARSHAISC2.