Ingredients
For the strudel
- 500g puff pastry or 6 sheets of filo pastry
- 500g left-overs from the Christmas meal roughly chopped – carrots, sprouts, roast potatoes, peas, swede, parsnips, stuffing, cranberry sauce etc.
- 20g rosemary or thyme chopped
For the cheese sauce
- 20g butter
- 2 tsp flour
- 200g cheese, grated
- 200ml milk
For roasted pepper and orange sauce
Vegan
- 2 peppers
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 1 orange, peeled with a sharp knife and segmented
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 large tomatoes
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
Method
You can use either filo or puff pastry for this savoury strudel, and you also have a choice of filling to go with the chopped leftover vegetables. You can either use the traditional creamy sauce made with butter, milk and any leftover cheese you have, or go the healthier vegan option of roasted pepper and orange sauce.
Method for cheese sauce
1. Gently melt the butter and add the flour, cook for 2 minutes.
2. Slowly add the milk, stirring all the time.
3. As the sauce thickens add the cheese.
4. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
Method for the pepper sauce
1. Place all of the ingredients onto a baking tray.
2. Drizzle with a little olive oil and cook for 20 minutes
3. Remove the rosemary and squeeze out the flesh of the garlic.
4. Blend until smooth and season with salt and pepper.
Method for strudel
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.
2. If using puff pastry roll it out to approximately 30cm x 20cm. If using filo use 6 sheets. Place these directly onto the baking tray allowing each sheet to overlap in order to extend the length of the strudel.
3. Place the vegetables down the middle of the pastry, cover in your chosen sauce and sprinkle on the rosemary or thyme.
4. Tuck in each end of the pastry and roll over to form a strudel. Brush with a little milk or soya milk and bake in a pre heated oven for 15 minutes for the filo and 30 minutes for the puff pastry. Serve with a healthy salad.
Our thanks to The Vegetarian Society for providing this recipe.