MUSHROOM BRUSCHETTA

For our 36^th anniversary I decided to make a nice meal at home and have our kids join us since this is the first year Lauren has lived in Austin since 2005.  We love mushrooms so I found this recipe in my Weber’s grilling book since I am all about grilling this summer.  I cheated and bought jar roasted red peppers rather than grilling them, but other than that I followed the recipe.  With shitakes, pine nuts and goat cheese I knew we would love it – and we did!  It was a superb appetizer with our cocktails to begin our celebratory evening.

½ c. dry white wine

1//4 c. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 t. minced garlic
2 t. finely chopped fresh rosemary
½ t. kosher salt
¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
 ½ lb. large shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
2 roasted red bell peppers
20 slices good-quality French bread, each about ¼” thick
EVOO
¼ c. pine nuts
2 TB finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 oz. goat cheese

To make the marinade whisk together the first 6 ingredients.  Place the mushrooms in a large ziplock bag and pour in the marinade.  Press the air out of the bag and turn it several times to distribute the ingredients.  Allow the mushrooms to marinate at room temperature for 1-2 hours, turning the bag occasionally.

Shake any excess moisture from the mushrooms and grill over Direct Medium heat (350-450 degrees) until tender, about 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally.  Lightly brush or spray the slices of bread on both sides with olive oil.  Grill over Direct Medium heat until lightly toasted, 1-2 minutes, turning once.

In a medium pan over medium heat, cook the pine nuts until lightly toasted, 5-10 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.  Very finely chop the peppers, mushrooms and pine nuts and combine all of them in a bowl.  Add the parsley and stir.  Spread a thin layer of goat cheese on one side of each slice of bread.  Arrange about 1 TB of the mushroom mixture on top of each and serve at room temperature.