AirFryday: Cheesy stuffed mushrooms, air fryer style

Here’s another mushroom recipe for the air fryer, not long after I shared this simpler one with you. The big brown fungi are in fine form right now, and when in season any fresh food is likely to be at its best, so take advantage. 

These are quite different though – this recipe is as much about the stuffing (and they really are stuffed, which I’ll explain) as it is about the mushrooms themselves.

Here’s a tip: that little stem that stares at you when you turn a mushroom upside down is best removed. Its texture isn’t nearly as nice as that of the cap, and – especially if you’re going to stuff a mushroom – it gets in the way. So, just use a small, sharp knife to cut around the edge of it and pluck it out to be discarded.

Another tip: don’t just pack your ingredients in, one after the other. Chop and grate everything and put it all in a small(ish) bowl, mix it together with a fork (and season it as well in the process) and then spoon it into the mushroom.

Pack it down firmly, using the pack of the spoon, and keep packing more stuffing in until it’s all used up. If at this point the mushrooms are not yet full to the brim and you’ve run out of stuffing, grate extra cheese and pack it on until they’re slightly convex at the top. Right? With an upwards curve, rather than down… a meniscus if you like.

My stuffing mixture comprised a smallish red onion, grated cheese (I used a mixture of smoked Dutch cheese and Emmental, but any good melting cheese will do), chopped fresh parsley, 2 red chillies (that is, per four mushrooms), fresh garlic, salt and black pepper.

I cooked them in the air fryer at just 160°C for 14 minutes, at which point they were beautifully browned on top.

Tony’s stuffed big brown mushrooms, air fryer style

(Makes 4 stuffed mushrooms)

Ingredients

4 big brown mushrooms

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

⅓ cup parsley, finely chopped

2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Olive oil spray

2 cups cheese, grated

Method

Cut the stems out of the mushroom and season the insides lightly with salt and black pepper.

In a small bowl, mix all of the stuffing ingredients together, including the seasoning, and stir with a fork until properly combined.

Spoon it evenly into the four mushrooms and pack it down tightly.

Preheat the fryer to 160°C. Spray the bottom of the fryer with cooking oil spray. Spray some on top of the stuffed mushrooms too.

Air fry at 160°C for 10 minutes, check to see if the top of the stuffing has browned to your liking, and continue cooking for 2 to 4 minutes more if you’d like them to brown some more. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award, in 2021 and 2023.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.