Recipe: Spam’shrooms En Croute
Description: This was the heavy hitter at the State Fair of Texas Spam cook-off last year. It seems that not a lot of folks will admit to eating Spam but there are apparently enough of us to warrant a cook-off. ;-) But then, Texans will do most anything if competition is involved.
Ingredients: [{"text": "1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend, divided use"}, {"text": "1 (14 ounce) can Spam, sliced into 1/2 chunks"}, {"text": "1/2 cup sun-dried tomato, in oil"}, {"text": "1/2 cup diced red onion"}, {"text": "3 dozen uniform mushrooms, about 1 1/2 in diameter"}, {"text": "20 sheets phyllo pastry, one box of frozen dough, thawed"}, {"text": "1/2 cup melted butter"}, {"text": "1 beaten egg"}, {"text": "2 tablespoons water"}]
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400&deg;F.
In the bowl of a food processor or mixer, combine &frac12; cup of the cheese, Spam chunks and sun-dried tomatoes.  Pulse or mix until nearly smooth.  Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in the remainder of the cheese and the red onion.
Remove the stems from the mushrooms.  With a small spoon, scrape out inside of each mushroom to make the cavity bigger.
Stuff each mushroom with about 1 teaspoon of the Spam mixture.  Be careful not to overstuff.
Carefully lay 4 sheets of phyllo dough on top of one another, brushing every other one with melted butter.
Cut phyllo lengthwise down the center, then cut each half into 3 pieces to make 6 rectangles.
Place a mushroom, Spam side up, in the center of each square.  Lift the sides of the pastry up over mushrooms to resemble small bundles.  Form a neck by pinching the edges together to seal.  Repeat same process with the rest of the mushrooms.
Place bundles on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Mix the egg  with water to make a wash &amp; lightly brush pastry.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown.
