If serving Musrooms and Eggplant en Croûte as a first course, some main course serving suggestions are: Roast Chicken or Turkey
Mushrooms and Eggplant en Croûte
As we look ahead to Thanksgiving, this Mushroom and Eggplant En Croûte is a very elegant and pretty presentation, just the recipe for impressing company. Yet the prep is simple and can made a day or two ahead of time or even frozen! I like making two at a time, either for a big crowd or for two separate occasions. This is a vegetarian recipe, but poultry or beef can easily be added to the filling, which is how I had it the first time at a friend’s home. I asked for the recipe and have changed it a bit, omitting the poultry and adding vegetables. When making meatless recipes, it’s great to add meaty veggies like mushrooms and eggplant, which have a hearty texture and thus are filling. The soup mix thickens the liquid, important because you don’t want the pastry to get mushy. Unlike when my grandmother rolled out her own puff pastry, today frozen puff pastry makes these sophisticated dishes a cinch for experienced or beginning cooks. It will be on my table this Thanksgiving!
Mushrooms and Eggplant en Croûte
Yield: 2 pastries; each pastry roll serves 5-6 as a first course or side, 4 as a main course.
#vegetarian #vegan #main #firstcourse #eggplant. #mushrooms
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped into 1” pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 eggplant, peeled, chopped, salted and rinsed
8 ounces mushroom, chopped into 1” pieces
2 bell peppers of favorite colors, cut in half, seeded and chopped
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2” slices
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon vegetarian soup mix
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1 egg, beaten for wash
1 tablespoon sesame seeds or spice mix of choice, optional
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In a large pan over medium heat, sauté onions until soft – around ten minutes. Add celery and garlic. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Add eggplant and sauté for 10 minutes until eggplant softens. Add mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes. Add bell peppers and zucchini, adding more oil if needed. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking. Add soup mix, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. All vegetables should be soft as they will be inside a pastry. Cook a bit more if they are too al dente. This step can be completed ahead of time. Refrigerate if not using right away.
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Preheat oven to 375.
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Unroll puff pastry onto parchment paper. With a rolling pin, roll out to make the pastry several inches longer and wider. With a fork, prick the pastry. This keeps it from getting soggy.
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Using a slotted spoon so as not to use too much liquid, spoon the vegetable mixture down the middle of the pastry in a 3” wide strip. Using a sharp knife, made diagonal or horizontal cuts 1” apart on each side of the rectangle to within half an inch of the filling. Alternating sides, fold the strips over the filing. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or with a spice rub, if desired.
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Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until golden.
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Remove from oven and serve immediately. If serving later, bring to room temperature and refrigerate. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before serving. Reheat in a 325F oven until warm.
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To Freeze: Bring to room temperature. Wrap completely in plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil. Label and freeze up to 3 months. Defrost in refrigerator. Reheat in oven 325F until warm and serve.
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If serving as a first course, some main course serving suggestions are roast chicken or turkey, grilled fish or pasta primavera.
Tip: If using small eggplant, you don’t need to peel or salt. The larger ones lose any bitter flavor with the salting and rinsing. After you chop the eggplant, place pieces in a sieve in a sink or over a bowl, sprinkle 1 tablespoon kosher salt over the eggplant. Let sit for about 15 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.
Expandthetable suggestions:
Add meat or poultry: 2 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into 1״ pieces or 1/2 pound steak, sliced thinly, use chopped beef or chicken. Sauté the meat after the onions until chicken is white and beef is browned.
Vegan: Omit egg wash or use vegan “eggs”
Add other veggies chopped to bite size: shredded cabbage, leeks, beans, carrots, peas, white or sweet potatoes, fennel, broccoli, cauliflower
Leftovers: If you have leftover filling, use in an omelet, in soups, place on a crusty slice of
bread, or add to a stew.
Foodie Lit
Author Julie Simmons told me about her novel, The Lost Canvas, “The main theme in the story is the resilience of the human spirit. I wanted to show that through the characters who represent entirely human constructs – joy, grief, success, failure, desires for goals, and regrets. The kinds of things that we all experience. They use these abstract sentiments, their layers, the makeup of what it is that gives us our human spirit as introspection to lean into it, and move forward because within all of us is the power of resilience. We get to choose. We can decide to become victims of our circumstances or to be the heroes of our own destinies.”
