FILO pastry filled with mashed potatoes and mushroom
Vegan or can be vegetarian
I do love anything to do with pastry. It can be a bit fiddley but this is so worth the effort. I love the flavour and the lightness of this dish. The filo pastry is crispy and flaky. The filling just melts in your mouth. The mushrooms and caramelised Spanish onions are combination that can’t be beat.
This is such a simple dish but so scrumptious.
This quantity made ten snail-shaped pastries.
I have to say that the filling did spill out of some of the pastries, (I photographed the ones that the filling didn’t spill out of).
I used 2/3 cup of filling per snail but you can use less if you don’t want any spillage and freeze the rest for next time.
Ingredients
1 packet (430g) filo pastry + 1 cup olive oil
1.kg potatoes
2 vegetable stock cubes
6 cups of water
3 Spanish onions
4 1/2 tablespoons oil
1-2 clove garlic crushed (depending on your taste buds)
130g frozen spinach thawed and drained of liquid
300g button mushrooms diced
1 cup finely chopped continental parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Potatoes
Peel and chop potatoes.
Dissolve two vegetable stock cubes in a pot with 6 cups of boiling water.
Add the potatoes and cook until uber soft.
While the potatoes are cooking, peel and dice onions. Fry in 4 ½ tablespoons of oil over medium heat until volume is reduced by half. You will need to stir occasionally.
Reduce heat to low and stir in mushrooms for about 3 min. Add crushed garlic and stir for a minute before adding the parsley and spinach.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Drain potatoes through a sieve, return to the pot and mash thoroughly.
Mix in the onion and mushroom mixture until well incorporated.
Pre-heat the oven to 200C
Line 2 baking trays with baking paper
On a clean kitchen bench, unroll the filo pastry and dip a basting brush into the 1 cup of olive oil and brush one filo sheet with oil. Place another one on top and brush with oil.
Measure 2/3 cup of mashed potatoes mixture and place along the edge of the filo pastry closest to you. Leave the very end of the side of the pastry without filing so when you turn it into a snail the mixture doesn’t come out and you are able to seal the end.
Roll the pastry into a snail and repeat with the remaining pastry.
Cook in the oven until golden brown, approx. 30min in my oven.
Enjoy.