Crispy Wonton Mushroom Cups

Second only to the 1993 issue of Gourmet Magazine pancake recipe, my mom has been making these mushroom cups forever. Ironically, they are the recipe literally next to the pancake recipe from the very same magazine. The mushrooms cups were a beloved staple at her adult-only Christmas parties, an event at which my presence was forbidden until I, too, became an "adult." I'm not exactly sure what marked my official rite of passage but I remember one year – instead of being shipped off to my grandparents for the night – my mom asked me to help her cook for her Christmas party. It was a fantastic turn of events, as instead of jealously pining over mushrooms cups I knew other people were enjoying, I got to help make, and inevitably, eat them.

So last weekend I decided to update my mom's classic recipe, which is traditionally made with white-bread-turned-baked-cups, by baking mini wonton cups and filling them with the same mixture. I'll warn you that these mushroom cups might not LOOK like much, but they are delicious little morsels indeed. People go nuts for them in a mushroom cup feeding frenzy.

Wonton Mushroom Cups

Here's how you make them:

• 36 wonton wrappers
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/2 pound mushrooms, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Make the wonton cups: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a miniature muffin pan with cooking spray. Insert wonton wrappers into the muffin pan so as to form small cups. Bake 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow the baked wrappers to cool a bit and then remove from the pan.

Here's an alternative "cup" idea, if you're not a fan of wonton wrappers: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut out a 3-inch round with a round cutter from individual slices of white bread, press the rounds into 1/8-cup muffin tins, forming cups, and bake the cups in batches in the middle of the oven 12-15 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Transfer the cups to racks and let them cool.

Arrange wontons in baking pan

Bake for 5 minutes or until golden brown

Make the mushroom mixture: In a skillet melt the butter over moderately high heat and in it sauté the onion, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté the mixture, stirring, for 15 minutes, or until the liquid from the mushrooms is evaporated.

Melt butter of high heat.

Cook onions until translucent; add mushrooms.

Cook mushrooms until liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle the flour over the mixture, and stir the mixture until it is combined well. Add the half and half, return the skillet to the heat, and cook the mixture over moderately high heat, stirring, until it is very thick. Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the salt, the cayenne, the black pepper, and the chives, the parsley, and the lemon juice, and let the mixture cool.

Add flour and stir to thicken.

Remove from heat and add rest of ingredients. Return to heat and stir until mixture thickens.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Transfer the cups to a baking sheet, divide the mushroom mixture among them, and sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top. Bake the cups in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Fill wonton cups with mushroom mixture.

Top each cup with grated Parmesan cheese.

Note: If you're making these in advance, the mushroom cups may be made up to this point and kept frozen, wrapped tightly. Reheat the mushrooms cups on a baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until they are heated through.

Bake for 20 minutes and serve immediately.