Leek & Mushroom Pastry
Whether it is home made pastry or store bought, the crisp and flakiness of the layers just go with anything with cheese. To make my leek & mushroom pastry a whole meal, I decided to add some of my favourite ingredients into the mix. I had to have mushrooms, leeks and rice, not to forget, a whole lot of cheese. I braided the pastry and brushed it with an egg wash to give it that beautiful golden design.
Ingredients
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 stalk of leek, sliced
10-12 mushrooms, sliced
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp butter
2 cups Daawat Basmati Rice, cooked
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Puff pastry (I used 1 pack of store-bought puff pastry)
1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp water (egg wash)
Instructions
1
In a hot skillet, add butter. Once melted, add the leeks and stir. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
2
Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Stir and let cook for 2-3 minutes.
3
In a bowl, mix the rice with the mushroom and leek mixture and cheese. Set aside.
4
On a parchment paper on a baking tray, lay the puff pastry.
5
Use the hard roller from the pastry packet or a ruler, to mark out how long you want to cut the pastry for the braid. You are meant to cut about 10 strips starting from the roller/ruler to the end of the pastry. Do this on either side.
6
Layer the rice mixture into the centre of the pastry leaving enough space on both sides to seal the pastry. Bring one strip from the left onto the pastry, followed by one from the right. Continue doing this until you have a braid.
7
Seal the top and bottom ends of the pastry by pinching it together.
8
Brush the egg wash onto the pastry and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 25-30 minutes.
9
Slice it up and serve warm.
