The Yum Yum Factor

I made some really delicious Manchego Stuffed Meatballs with Romesco recently to serve as tapas style appetizer. In fact, they have been such a huge hit that when I found out that Mushrooms Canada was holding their annual mushroom appetizer contest for the members of the Food Bloggers of Canada, I looked no further, although it required a bit of tweaking. The original recipe called for serving meatballs on a plate, sitting on a thick smear of romesco, the Spanish sauce made from almonds, bread, olive oil and roasted peppers. Don't get me wrong, I love serving them like this but it really only works when we are actually sitting down to dinner as the whole idea is that you spear one with a fork and drag it through the sauce on it's way to your plate. For this contest, I know they are looking for an appetizer that can be eaten out of hand so what could make more sense than using an actual mushroom cap as a little bed for the meatball right? It's not like ...

I am on a mission to come up with a bunch of tapas style dishes that I can whip up for my summer entertaining because although I love to have guests over, I get in trouble for spending too much time in the kitchen while they are here. I have vowed to serve fewer items, served at room temperature or cold and that require very little last minute prep. Your guests want you to spend time with them, not leave them alone while you make magic happen in the kitchen, right? One quick search of this blog will tell you two things: I LOVE a meatball and I love to add mushrooms to my ground meat a la Blend and Extend. Inspired by my most recent  recent farm tour with Mushrooms Canada and Ontario Beef  , I couldn't stop thinking about doing a meatball stuffed with a bit of Manchego and served on a smear of spicy Romesco sauce. It's all the flavours of Spain that I love - nutty manchego cheese, garlic, smoked paprika and the ubiquitous, slightly chunky romesco sits somewhere be...