Vegetable cheese strudel

Serves: 4

If they like it, it serves 4 otherwise

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Totaltime: 50 minutes

Serve with a green salad. Vary the vegetables using eggplant, beans, snow peas, carrots, sweet potatoes or squash, all thinly sliced. You can use leftover cooked vegetables too. For a non-vegetarian dish, sauté chopped smoked bacon and add to vegetables.

Ingredients

2 tbsp (25 mL) olive oil
1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 tsp (5 mL) chopped garlic
1 onion, sliced
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced cabbage or fennel
6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped parsley
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) Gruyere, mozzarella or cheddar, grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 oz (250 g) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

Spiced Pesto Vinaigrette
1/2 cup (125 mL) pesto
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice
1/2 tsp (2 mL) hot pepper sauce
2 tbsp (25 mL) olive oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
Heat olive oil in skillet on medium-high heat. Add peppers and sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic, onion, zucchini, cabbage and mushrooms. Sauté until crisp tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and drain off any liquid. Stir in parsley and cheese. Season with salt and pepper and cool.
Roll out pastry to a 10 x 14-inch (25 x 35-cm) rectangle. Pile vegetables along upper third of pastry lengthwise, leaving a 1 inch wide border on short sides. Brush all sides with beaten egg. Fold short ends up over filling, then roll into cylinder, cutting off pastry excess. Place seam-side down on cookie sheet and prick top. Brush with egg.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Whisk together pesto, lemon juice, hot pepper sauce and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Cut strudel in slices and drizzle some sauce over.
This recipe is adapted from the LCBO Food and Drink Magazine in Ontario, Canada