Gemüsestrudel mit Knoblauchsauce (vegetable strudel with garlic sauce)
A savoury filo strudel, mixed vegetables sautéed until any raw water has cooked off before they go anywhere near the pastry, rolled and baked until crisp, and served with a cold garlic yogurt sauce that does the work a rich cream sauce would in a heavier version.
Prep30 min
Cook30 min
Oven200°C
Servings6
Christoph's vegetable strudel, sweating the vegetables properly dry first so the filo pastry actually crisps rather than steaming soft.
Ingredients
Written for a 35 × 25 cm baking sheet
Units
Temperature
Servings
Filling
- 30 ml olive oil rounded
- 150 g onion, chopped rounded
- 150 g carrot, peeled, in small dice rounded
- 200 g zucchini, in small dice rounded
- 150 g leek, white and light green parts, sliced rounded
- 150 g mushrooms, sliced rounded
- 5 g fine salt rounded
- 100 g feta, crumbled rounded
- 15 g fresh dill, chopped (optional) rounded
Pastry
- 8 sheets filo pastry rounded
- 80 g butter, melted rounded
Garlic sauce
- 250 g full-fat plain yogurt rounded
- 10 g garlic, finely grated rounded
- 10 ml olive oil rounded
- 10 ml lemon juice rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and sweat the onion, carrot, zucchini, leek and mushrooms with the salt over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until fully softened and any raw water has cooked off; the pan should look dry, not wet, at the end. Cool completely.
- Stir the feta and dill into the cooled vegetables.
- Lay one sheet of filo on a clean surface and brush lightly with melted butter. Repeat, stacking all 8 sheets, buttering each layer.
- Spread the vegetable filling along one long edge, leaving a border, and roll up into a log, tucking in the sides partway through.
- Transfer seam-side down onto a lined baking sheet and brush the top with the remaining butter.
- Bake at 200°C for 25 to 30 minutes, until deep golden brown and crisp all over.
- Whisk the yogurt, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt together for the sauce while the strudel bakes.
- Rest the strudel 5 minutes, then slice and serve with the garlic sauce alongside.
Method in the Thermomix
Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers the vegetable filling; the pastry and baking are the same as the hand method.
- Onion, carrot, zucchini, leek and mushrooms into the bowl, in rough pieces. Chop 3 sec / speed 4, no finer.
- Add the olive oil and salt. Sauté 14 min / 120 °C / reverse / speed 1, measuring cup off so moisture escapes. Tip out and cool completely.
- Stir in the feta and dill by hand, then continue with the pastry as in the hand method.
Notes
- Drying the vegetables out fully is the entire point of this recipe. Filo pastry has almost no capacity to absorb liquid, and any moisture left in the filling turns straight into a soggy patch on the finished strudel.
- Keep filo covered with a damp towel while you work, since it dries out and cracks quickly once out of its packaging.
- The garlic sauce is a cold contrast to the hot, crisp strudel, not meant to be warmed; make it while the strudel bakes so it stays fresh.
- It keeps for 2 days in the fridge, though it is far better fresh from the oven; a low oven refreshes the crispness better than a microwave, which softens it.
Ingredient substitutions
- Mushrooms can be omitted or doubled, depending on preference; they release the most water of anything in the filling, so sweat them a little longer if using more.
- Feta can be a firmer, aged sheep’s cheese, or left out entirely for a dairy-lighter filling.
- Filo pastry dries out fast; if it tears while layering, patch it with a scrap from another sheet rather than starting over.
- For a spicier version, add a pinch of chili flakes to the vegetable filling while it sweats.
From Christoph Mayer