Crab Cake Stuffed Portobellos

I never really cared for crab cakes, until we came to Virginia. Our first day here, we stopped at a local place, Taste, that I'd read about. We both had sandwiches that were completely amazing. And even though I've never been a fan of crab cakes, for some reason I had ordered a crab cake sandwich.

In the past month, I've had crab 3-4 times. I came to realize that my problem with crab was that most of the time it's a little bit of crab meat, a whole lot of breading and filler. The crab cakes I've had here have not been like that. They've been full of big, beautiful pieces of crab. And now I just can't get enough.

When I saw Jen post this recipe on her blog, I knew I had to make it ASAP. I adapted it a little, just because we didn't need six stuffed mushrooms, and this did not disappoint.

We bought our lump crab meat from Whole Foods, and while it's pricey, the crab meat is the star of this dish. It's worth the splurge.

Crab Cake Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
(Recipe adapted from this one.)

Ingredients:

• 4 Large Portobello Mushrooms
• ½ of a medium onion, finely diced
• 1 clove of garlic; minced
• 4 oz. of softened cream cheese
• 1 egg white
• 1/3 c. of panko
• 1/3 c. of parmesan cheese
• ½ t. of Old Bay seafood seasoning
• 8 oz. lump crab meat; drained. 
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Paprika 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Remove stems from mushrooms and scrape out all of the gills. Set aside. 
3. Saute onions in 1 T. of oil, until tender. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, or until fragrant. 
4. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, egg white, bread crumbs, parmesan, and Old Bay. Fold in crab meat and cooked onions & garlic. 
5. Spoon ½ C of crab mixture into each mushroom cap. Lightly brush each stuffed mushroom with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika.
6. Place in a greased baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.