Golden puff pastry wrapped around deeply browned mushrooms makes a very appealing lunch, particularly with a crisp green salad alongside. Cut into smaller portions, this Mushroom Strudel is equally at home as a first course.
The filling is simple: cremini mushrooms cooked in butter and olive oil, with garlic, thyme and parsley. Give the mushrooms time to brown properly, letting their liquid evaporate before taking them off the heat. You want a savoury filling with plenty of flavour, without excess moisture to soften the pastry.
The braid looks more elaborate than it is. Spoon the cooled filling down the centre of a sheet of puff pastry, cut strips along either side, then cross them alternately over the mushrooms. A light egg-white wash and a spell in the oven turn those overlapping strips into a beautifully golden crust.
Let the strudel rest briefly before slicing, then bring it to the table on a wooden board. It needs very little ceremony—and is likely to leave a few pastry flakes behind.
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- Saute the mushrooms
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- Centre lengthwise on puff pastry
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- Cut the sides of pastry into 1″ strips
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- Fold over the top and bottom and braid
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- Brush with egg white
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- Bake!
Mushroom Strudel
Deeply browned cremini mushrooms with garlic and fresh herbs, enclosed in golden braided puff pastry. Serve in small slices as an appetizer or with a green salad for lunch.
- Yield: 1 strudel; approximately 8 appetizer portions or 4 light luncheon servings 1x
Ingredients
- 12 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 340 g or 12 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 15 ml or 1 tbsp olive oil
- 14 g or 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 10 ml or 2 tsp minced garlic
- 5 ml or 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 5 ml or 1 tsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions but kept cold
- 1 large egg white
- 15 ml or 1 tbsp water
Instructions
Prepare the oven and baking sheet.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C or 375°F convection, or 200°C or 400°F conventional. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Brown the mushrooms.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the butter and olive oil until the butter foams. Add the mushrooms and cook until they begin to release their liquid. Sprinkle with salt and increase the heat to medium-high. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are deeply browned, about 10 minutes. Leave them undisturbed between stirs to encourage browning.
Add the garlic and herbs.
- Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely. Taste and adjust the salt.
Shape the strudel.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry into a rectangle approximately 30 × 25 cm or 12 × 10 inches. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Spoon the cooled mushroom filling lengthwise down the centre third, leaving a small border at each end.
Braid the pastry.
- Using a sharp knife, cut strips approximately 2.5 cm or 1 inch wide along both sides of the filling, leaving the pastry beneath the filling intact. Fold the short ends over the mushrooms, trimming away excess corner pieces if needed. Cross the side strips diagonally over the filling, alternating left and right.
Glaze and bake.
- Whisk the egg white with the water. Lightly brush over the pastry. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 25–30 minutes.
Rest and Serve
- Allow the strudel to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm, with a green salad if desired.
Notes
Puff pastry sheet sizes vary. Choose a sheet large enough to roll to the dimensions above, and keep it cold while working. If the pastry becomes soft during assembly, refrigerate the shaped strudel briefly before glazing and baking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
I’m sharing this post with Between Naps on the Porch.
You made this for me for my dinner party and we all loved it. So tasty and looks so elegant. Thanks for the recipe.
We had so much fun at your dinner party, Maura! Thanks for hosting a marvellous evening.
My thyme plant survived our Alpine winter and is my favourite herb…or is that chives? or basil? or chervil? I love them all! To my strudel I add some dried porcini, reconstituted in hot Marsala for an hour, and also some frischkäse–tart and creamy like Philly (but fresher tasting and with fewer calories…comes natural or with herbs–oh, the joys of living in dairy country!) Thanks for reminding me of this autumn treat. The cows come home this weekend and next, depending on the snow level in their pastures, so I’ll make it to welcome them.
https://www.montafon.at/en/my-montafon/special-features/pasture-drive
Beatrice, your mushroom strudel sounds delicious! I’ll try adding some porcini and perhaps a herbed goat cheese next time I make it. Thanks for the tip! I made crostini with herbed goat cheese topped with caramelized onions and bell peppers for a dinner party we had last night (yes, in the middle of the floral centrepiece/cupcake endeavour; it was booked months ago). As an added fillip, the ensuite & walk-in closet renovation is in full swing, the contractors having in typical fashion ignored the project while we were away, are now fully awake and in “we’ve got to get this done” mode. We had a very obliging group still drywalling and plastering the repair to our family room, necessitated by redirecting plumbing to the new bathroom, still at it as guests arrived. I included them in the crostini passing, which was gratefully received. They packed up their gear as our guests settled in on the porch and we all had an enjoyable evening.
What a spectacle it must be to welcome the cows home, plump and pleased after summer sojourn.