Stuffed Baby Bellas with Italian Stuffing

So its the holidays and it seems we will all be busy making plenty of food for all the planned festivities this week. Personally, I had cooked some this weekend, but I think I will be equally busy back home with my family for the Thanksgiving week.

This past weekend, we ended up going out to the pond and enjoyed some great company out there. We all decided to have our own family Thanksgiving as I won't get to see "my adopted family" this coming week. Luckily, we had a great time and I have to say that the chicken fried venison was wonderful (recipe coming sometime in the future).

This recipe is something that I have changed up from another recipe that I had come across on the Food Network. I just substituted using a dressing mix. Sometimes, (and I have said this in the past) cutting corners is OK.

Ingredients:

1 pkg Italian sausage (12 oz)
2 tsbp butter
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 pkg cornbread dressing mix
2 tbsp butter (per the dressing instructions)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp fresh ground course pepper
2 packages 
Olive oil
Salt to taste

Well, first start with cooking the Italian sausage. When cooked, place the sausage onto a plate in order to allow the oil to drain from the meat. Notice that this is already pre-seasoned. If you can't find it already seasoned, then add a little spice to your meat (this would be thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes, oregano).

Drain some of the fat. Add the 2 tbsp of butter to the pan. Add the chopped celery, onion, bell pepper and garlic. Once they are translucent and tender, then take off the heat.

While that is cooking away, start to prepare the cornbread dressing mix. Follow the directions as stated in the box. Have the water and butter come to a boil. Add the spices to the water. Allow to set on the side and mix in the breadcrumbs from the package. You can now add the meat and veggies to your cornbread mixture.

Get your packages of mushrooms. Take the stems off and start to clean them. I was told that it was best to clean them with a damp cloth. In a separate baking dish, place the mushroom caps stem side up.

Once they are in the dish, drizzle all of the caps with some olive oil. If you want to add a little of salt and pepper, then do so now. After you have done this, then you can start assembling the caps by filling them with the dressing mixture.

Allow to cook for 30 minutes on 350 or when the mushroom caps are tender. You can drizzle it with some cheese, but I prefer just the way they are. Great as an appetizer or just as a "side dish" for Thanksgiving!