A little last-minute recipe from this year's festive menu as made by those who followed my Christmas cooking workshops a few weeks ago.
It's totally stress free and prepared with ingredients that are easy to find everywhere: puff pastry (I buy the version made with butter, much nicer than the one with margarine), broccoli, pancetta (Italian bacon, you can use normal bacon if you don't find pancetta) and a few more things, among which the zest of an orange to give this dish a special, festive twist. Bay leaves and juniper berries add to its wintery charm.
The original recipe that I found in an old Cucina Italiana magazine was originally made with cauliflower but I prefer broccoli, especially for their color. I'm a big fan of broccoli since it's a greatly tasting and extremely healthy type of vegetable (I'm actually a big fan of all Cruciferae veggies and I eat tons of them). For some extensive info on broccoli check this site.
We used the little strudels as a side dish but they're totally perfect as main dish since they're very filling, rich and nutritious.
Piccoli strudel con broccoli, pancetta e arancia
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
400 gr. fresh, firm broccoli
butter puff-pastry
200 gr pancetta cut in two thick slices
3 eggs
2 bay leaves
2 juniper berries
2-3 tablespoons of pistachios or pine-nuts
2 small shallots
1 organic orange
6 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper
some all-purpose flour
Separate the broccoli florets from the stems and cook them for about 5-6 minutes in boiling water with a pinch of salt, half of the orange peel, the bay leaves and the juniper berries.
Remove the broccoli from the pan with a slotted spoon and cook them a bit further (two minutes) in a few spoons of olive oil in which you have fried the finely chopped shallots until they're sweet and transparent.
Leave to cool off and mix together with two beaten eggs (keep the third egg to brush the strudels with it before they go in the oven) and the finely diced pancetta, the other half of the orange peel (grated), the cheese and some black pepper.
Cut the puff-pastry in little squares (if necessary roll it out on a working surface that you've previously dusted with flour) and fill them with the mixture.
Roll up and seal the strudels well so that the filling stays inside.
Brush lightly with a beaten egg and sprinkle with coarsely chopped pistachios or whole pine-nuts making sure they stick to the egg.
Put in the pre-heated oven (180°C) for about 15-20 minutes or until nice and golden brown and serve warm but not too hot.
(click on the thumbnails to see the bigger pictures)
Piccoli strudel con broccoli e pancetta
(kleine strudels met broccoli en pancetta)
Voor 4-6 personen
Ingrediënten: 400 gr. verse broccoli
4-6 plakjes bladerdeeg
200 gr pancetta in twee dikke plakken
3 eieren
2 laurierbladeren
2 jeneverbessen
2-3 eetlepels pistachenoten
2 kleine sjalotten
1 biologische sinaasappel
6 eetlepels geraspte Parmezaanse kaas
olijfolie extra vergine
zout en zwarte peper
bloem
Verdeel de broccolistronkjes in roosjes en kook ze circa 5-6 minuten in kokend water met een snufje zout en de helft van de schil van de sinaasappel, de laurierblaadjes en de jeneverbessen.
Haal ze uit het water m.b.v. een schuimspaan en bak ze een paar minuten in een paar eetlepels olijfolie waar je eerst de fijngesneden sjalotjes zacht en glazig hebt gebakken.
Laat goed afkoelen en meng daarna met twee losgeklopte eieren (bewaar het derde ei voor het bestrijken van de kleine strudels) en de in zeer kleine stukjes gesneden pancetta, de andere helft van de sinaasappelschil (geraspt), de Parmezaanse kaas en een beetje gemalen zwarte peper.
Rol de bladerdeeglapjes iets meer uit m.b.v. een deegroller (doe het met een licht met bloem bestoven werktafel om plakken te voorkomen) en vul ze met het mengsel.
Rol ze op en maak ze goed dicht.
Bestrijk ze met losgeklopt ei en besprenkel ze met de grofgesneden pistachenoten.
Leg ze in de voorverwarmde oven op 180°C voor circa 15-20 minuten of tot ze mooi goudbruin zijn en serveer lauwwarm.
Very informative article and thanks for explaining the procedures for preparing the dish.
Posted by: dan karanja | June 29, 2017 at 11:11 AM