Major kudos must be given to this amazing recipe. I mean, oh my god it is so good! It's a bit of work and I'll admit I did change a couple of things. I only made half the recipe, I used mild Italian sausage (instead of the sweet and hot), and used 2 large portobello mushroom caps. I served my stuffed mushroom cap on a bed of jasmine rice that I mixed with a hint of balsamic vinegar.
I really recommend going the extra step and grating your own parmesan - I had forgotten how good fresh parmesan tastes that when after I sampled some I did little a happy dance (that my husband totally saw and mocked me for). I don't care though, it deserved a dance. :)
Most of my time was spent in the prep work. I had everything chopped and separated into bowls and placed in the order that I was going to need them - made the process so much easier. I don't have a food processor though - I thought I'd be able to use a blender, big mistake. So, instead I settled on using my Magic Bullet and that seemed to get the job done.
My husband commented that the spices did get to him towards the end of the meal, I thought it was perfect. So, maybe my pallet isn't as refined. :P
I also recommend going the extra step and preparing the "Essence." You'll make quite a lot, but I'm sure with a little creativity you'll be able to find other recipes to use the spice combination in.
If you don't have an extensive spice rack then this recipe could be more on the pricey end. I only ended up needing 3 spices (which I'll now have to buy spice jars for and whip out my trusty label maker, now making my spice rack have 28 spices - HELL YES!)
I hope you enjoy this recipe. :)
