Phyllo pastry lends itself to be rolled around a savoury or sweet filling and shaped into decorative crackers. Strips of blanched spring onion or chives will make neat bows for baked savoury crackers. The crackers can also be made with a sweet filling, e.g. Apple & Cranberry (picture below).
Vegetable Crackers
Filling
30 g butter
250 ml coarsely grated carrot
250 ml coarsely chopped leek, OR 1/2 onion and 1/2 spring onion
250 ml sliced mushrooms
125 ml chopped celery1 ml salt
pinch white pepper
pinch mixed dried herbs
Filo Pastry
3 – 6 sheets filo pastry (see note below)
± 50 g melted butter
To Finish
12 chives or strips of spring onion
- To make the filling, heat the butter or margarine and add all the remaining ingredients.
- Stir – fry 5 minutes over high heat until the moisture has evaporated. Cool and drain well.
- For a more substantial cracker, brush a sheet of pastry with melted butter or margarine, fold in half and brush again. For a lighter cracker, cut the sheets of pastry in half and brush with melted butter or margarine.
- Divide the filling between the sections, placing it at the base of the sheet. Roll up loosely, pressing the pastry with the fingertips to form a cracker shape while rolling. Press firmly into shape to make neat crackers.
- Place the crackers onto a greased baking tray and brush with melted butter or margarine. Bake at 180 ºC for 8 – 10 minutes or until golden and crisp.
- Blanch the chives or strips of spring onion by covering with boiling water for a few minutes until softened. Drain, rinse in cold water and dry. Tie the chives or strips of spring onion around the indentations at both ends of each cracker.
Yields 6 crackers.
For delicate crackers, use a single layer of pastry for each cracker (3 sheets) or for more substantial crackers, use a folded sheet of pastry or double layer of pastry for each (6 sheets).
Recipe by Carolié de Koster from Art Of Cooking. There is a whole chapter on Phyllo pastry which includes hints for shaping and baking phyllo pastry, a variety of sweet and savoury recipes, etc.(page 761 to 800).
