This is a simple, impressive appetizer to put together. It's really easy to make them ahead of time and then just pop them in the oven when ready for serving.
24thin slicespancetta (or 12 strips of thin sliced bacon)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Trim and discard tough or discolored stem ends from mushrooms. Sprinkle mushrooms lightly with salt and pepper.
Lay a sage leaf over the top of each mushroom, then wrap mushroom and sage leaf with pancetta. Leave tip of sage leaf protruding outside of the bacon. Push toothpick through the top (where the pancetta ends meet), making sure it does not come out the bottom of the mushroom.
Place wrapped mushrooms in 10x15-inch nonstick baking pan. (At this point you can cover and refrigerate, or you can choose to bake right away).
Bake until most of pancetta is crisp and browned, about 25 minutes. Leave toothpicks in, and serve immediately.
Notes
Don't use huge sage leaves. Choose leaves that are about the same size as the mushrooms.
If you're using regular bacon, cut each strip in half to form two shorter strips, and wrap each mushroom with a short strip).
If you make these ahead and refrigerate them, you'll likely need to add about 5 minutes onto the baking time.