Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms

I'm always looking for fun, new appetizer recipes.  Added bonus if the recipe is easy and big points if it's healthy.  I made these little gems as the precursor to the Shrimp in Bourbon Cream Sauce that I served during Part One of The Husband's birthday celebration.

I found this recipe on Soupbelly and tweaked it just a tad to reflect our tastes, and voila - a delicious and fairly healthy appetizer!

This recipe has a few steps to it, but the steps are easy and definitely not time consuming. 

The Husband and I were both thrilled with the way these turned out. These mushrooms are extremely flavorful, without being so rich and heavy that you are filled up just by the first course.

Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms

10 large white mushrooms

2 oz. shrimp, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 Tbsp. finely chopped chives
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. butter
salt and pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste

Remove stems from washed mushrooms. Reserve 5 of the stems and dice. Combine Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs together in a bowl, set aside.

In a skillet, melt 1 Tbsp. butter on medium heat. Cook mushroom caps for 2 minutes, flipping halfway to sweat out excess liquid. Place caps on plate to cool until ready to stuff.

In the same skillet on medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp. butter. Add celery and mushroom stems and cook until softened.

Add shrimp and cook until it turns pink, take skillet off heat and let cool.

In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, chives, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce. Taste and add more Worcestershire & hot sauces, if needed.  Season with salt, pepper & garlic powder. Add shrimp mixture. Spoon mixture into mushroom caps and place in a lightly greased baking dish.

Sprinkle bread crumb and Parmesan cheese on top. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Uncover and bake for about 15 minutes or until bread crumbs have browned.