...but I don't Knead That! Fennel and Pork Stuffed Mushrooms

Stupid title? Not if you start humming, "I'll do anything for love..." first. Humans need things to be healthy happy humans. We need a place to live, and yummy food, and awesome friends... we need stuff for fun like puns and homophones, but we don't knead bread. :o)

Ok, so the first inspiration for this meal came from someone else's blog, who I would love to give credit to ---but when I went looking for a link to pizza-stuffed mushrooms I could NOT find it anywhere, so then I wondered if I dreamed it... and I'm still not sure but since I couldn't find it I decided to come up with my own. Many low-carb cooks have made pizza on mushrooms so its not entirely new.

The second inspiration for this meal came from a pre-paleo favorite cookbook called "What You Knead" by Mary Ann Esposito that was given to me by my fabulous mother in law ages ago. One of my favorite recipes from that book was "Fennel and Pork Calzones." Mmmmmm mmmmmm! Now that I'm convinced that wheat is BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD I don't really need this book anymore, and I'm probably a stage 4 hoarder when it comes to books, and it was a gift.... so I can't throw it out, and if you eat wheat you're probably not even reading this blog.... but if you do, and you'd like to borrow it just ask. Or, trade me for a book on "how not to write run-on sentences."

Fennel and Pork stuffed Mushrooms

12 cupcake sized mushrooms. (if you want to make use of your muffin tins, but any size will work.)

1 pound ground pork

1 onion, diced

2 large cloves garlic, diced (or smushed thru a garlic press. am I the only one who uses those?)

2 stalks celery, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 red, green, or yellow pepper (capsicum) diced (I didn't have one, but better with.)

1 Tablespoon fennel seeds (whole)

1 small can tomato paste, or 2 foil packs

S&P to taste

Pre-heat oven to 400F/200C

Brown the meat with the onion and garlic. Pour off extra fat if needed, or add a tablespoon of fat if the meat was very lean. Add the veggies and fennel seeds and cook until the veggies are to your liking.

Remove from heat and stir in the tomato paste.

Prep your mushrooms. Brush off any dirt and remove the stems and gills. Toss with olive oil and prep your pan. If they are the right size, you can stick them in an oiled muffin tin... If they are larger just place them in an oiled 9x13 inch pan, or whatever size you need. Stuff the mushrooms with the pork mixture. I ended up with about 10 that were cupcake sized, but I had luckily found perfect deep mushrooms. The large flat ones they call "field mushrooms" would work, or even "button" mushrooms... if you have leftover meat just put around the mushrooms you fill in the pan. Yes, you can use any pizza filling/sauce mix you like....Yes, if you eat cheese you can top them with cheese... (but at the end of the cooking time so it doesn't brown too much...)

Pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes....