Daily Archives: November 1, 2011

Mushroom and Roquefort Strudel

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Two weekends ago, Brian and I were in Washington, D.C., meeting with some prospective wedding vendors and visiting my sister and godparents. For a long time, I had been promising my godparents that I would make them dinner, so I delivered on that promise while we were in D.C. Thankfully, they let me off the hook a bit by offering to make the hors d’oeuvres and dessert (and my sister pitched in by making some great homemade bread!).

For our main course, I made seared duck breasts served with lentils braised in red wine, and for the starter I made a mushroom and Roquefort strudel. I made this strudel last year for New Years Eve and it was a hit, so I have decided to share the recipe with you because it truly is delicious. Sautéed mushrooms and blue cheese make a great pairing, and this strudel recipe is a wonderful example of how well they compliment each other.

Although this strudel may look intimidating, it is in fact quite easy to make. The most difficult part is layering the phyllo dough, which, if you impatient like me, can be infuriating. The good news is that this strudel is quite forgiving, so a few rips in your phyllo dough really won’t make a big difference to the end result as long as there are no holes when you roll it up.

Happy Cooking,
Pippa

Mushroom and Roquefort Strudel

Serves 6 appetizer portions

Ingredients:

  • 1 box phyllo dough (defrosted according to the directions on the package)
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 large shallots, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
  • 2 pounds assorted mushrooms (I used crimini and shitake)
  • ¼ cup white wine (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 ounces Roquefort cheese (or other blue cheese)
  • 6 tablespoons dry bread crumbs (store bought is fine for this recipe)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. Heat a large sauté pan over low-medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and the olive oil. Add the chopped shallots and cook over low heat until the shallots are translucent.
  3. Add all of the mushrooms and the garlic and turn up the heat to medium-high. Sauté the mushrooms until they have released all of their liquid and then reabsorbed the liquid.
  4. Add the wine and thyme and cook over medium-high heat until the wine is fully reduced. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Take the sauté pan off the heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature before constructing the strudel
  6. When the mushroom mixture has cooled, crumble the Roquefort into the mushrooms and mix in lightly.
  7. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter over the stove or in the microwave.
  8. Brush a large sheet pan with a small amount of butter to prevent the strudel from sticking.
  9. Take out your phyllo dough and place one layer of the phyllo on the buttered sheet pan. Brush the sheet of pastry with butter and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs evenly over the sheet of phyllo.
  10. Place another sheet of phyllo over the first layer, brush with butter, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Repeat 4 more times, so that you have a total of 6 layers of phyllo.
  11.  Spoon the cooled mushroom filling onto the long side of the last layer of phyllo.
  12. Carefully roll up the strudel so that the seam side faces down and fold in the ends.
  13. Brush the outside of the strudel with melted butter and place the strudel in the oven for 34-40 minutes, or until the outside is golden brown.
  14. Serve alone or top of baby mixed greens. Rainwater Madeira is a perfect pairing for this strudel!