Tuesday 29 October 2013

Magic Mushrooms

As most of you probably know by now, I love a good mushroom dish. Whether they be raw in a salad, roasted in the oven, char-grilled on the BBQ or cooked up in some delicious casserole or stirfry, they are always wonderful.

Not only do mushrooms taste great, but they are so healthy for you. For vegetarians they provide so many of the nutrients that you might otherwise get from meat and they really help to make a meal filling.

Did you know that just 100g of mushrooms provide up to 36% of your daily needs of riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid and biotin. That's a pretty big bang for your buck in the vitamin and mineral stakes. They are also low fat, low cholesterol and high in vitamin D. An outright winner in the vegie department!

I was lucky enough to be given a copy of the 'Mushrooms - The Great All-Rounder' cookbook by the Australian Mushroom Growers Association and have been drooling over the amazing looking recipes all week. This is the first dish that I've made out of the book, but you can guarantee that there will be plenty more to come.

My husband and I are trying to eat one or two vegetarian meals each week, and mushrooms often feature heavily in these meals. Tonight I wanted something vego, but which was a bit different and really full of flavour. This strudel ticked all the boxes. Full of caramelised onions, slow cooked mushrooms and creamy brie, what more could you want?



The filling was really easy to prepare and the pie itself only took about 20 minutes to cook in a hot oven. Really you only needed to cook the pastry as the filling was more or less pre-cooked. I'll definitely be making this one again! I have made a couple of changes to the original recipe to suit our tastes, but the main flavours are the same. Served with a simple rocket, pear and parmesan salad to counteract the richness of the filling, this was a perfect mid-week dinner.

Brie And Mushroom Strudel

2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
A couple of drizzles of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp honey
400g button mushrooms, sliced
120g brie cheese, chopped
2 Tbs parsley, chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 sheets of frozen puff pastry, defrosted
Salt and pepper to taste
egg wash to brush



Place onions in a bowl, cover with damp paper towel and microwave for 3-4 minutes, or until soft.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry onions and garlic for about 5 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Add the honey and cook for a further 2 minutes or until caramelised. Set aside to cool.
In a separate frying pan, heat another drizzle of oil and fry the mushrooms for about 5 minutes until tender and they have released their juices. Season to taste.
When cool, mix the mushrooms and onion together and stir through parsley, thyme and cheese.


Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Place one sheet of pastry on a baking try lined with baking paper.
Heap the filling into the middle of the pastry square, leaving at least 1cm around the entire edge.
Use the egg wash to brush around the edge and cover with the second sheet of pastry. Try to push out any air in the parcel and gently press the edges of the pastry together to seal.
Cut a couple of holes in the top of the pastry to let steam escape and then brush with the egg wash.

Bake for about 20-25 mins, or until the pastry is puffed and golden.





This post was not sponsored in any way and no payment was recieved.

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