Deliciousness - Mushrooms in Puffs

Some time ago I was planning what to take to the PTteam Picnic in Lisbon and in doubt if I should make something sweet or something savory.

In my quest I thought of mushrooms. 

But it would have to be something that we could take to a picnic and then it came to me the idea of making what we call in Portugal "folhados" or puffs in English.

I searched many recipes, both online and in the dozens of books I have at home (my mom was a professional cook, that's why I have dozens if not hundreds of books), but nothing tickled my fancy. I saw some recipes that I more or less liked, but in my search I found myself losing sight of those.

I had shopped  for the mushrooms already, so I had to do something!

Unfortunately, I had forgotten a key ingredient when making "puffs", the puff pastry itself. :)

And so I had to make another choice, I made my olive oil biscuits.

So these were made latter on and after the team picnic.

Do you think you would want to make them?

Lets go then.

Mushroom and cheese Puffs

Ingredients:

- 1 pack of fresh Paris Mushrooms (Button mushrooms), about 250/300gr;

- 1 pack of fresh "Marron" Mushrooms (brown mushrooms), about 250/300gr;

- 2 sheets of puff pastry (thawed, if its the frozen kind);

- 50g to 75g of streaky bacon (chopped into small strips);

- 100g of grated Mozzarella, Parmesan or any other good melting cheese;

- 3 cloves of garlic;

- a glass of white wine;

- olive oil;

- salt and pepper to taste;

- 1 egg.

Preparation:

Making the filling:

First you have to slice mushrooms and, if you haven't already done so, the bacon.

Put some olive oil in a heated frying pan, enough to slightly coat the bottom, and add the bacon.

If you don't have bacon, use prosciutto or any other cured meat you like, but have in mind that the salt quantity, the flavor and fat are different. In the pictures above and bellow I used prosciutto, because I didn't have bacon, but for this dish I prefer the bacon. :)

When the bacon has gained a slight color add the mushrooms and the garlic, minced or mashed, as I've done. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Be careful with the salt, because of the bacon you can add to much and risk salting our filling. When you are almost finished with the cooking of the mushrooms, you'll be able to correct the seasoning.)
Let them cook, steering every so often.

When you're cooking fresh mushrooms they will leak lots of water, so let them cook until the liquid reduces.

Then add the wine let it reduce again, cooking the alcohol out.

Sprinkle with about 25g of the cheese and stir.

Take off heat and let the mixture cool.

Making the puffs:

Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC.

Place the puff pastry sheets onto a slightly floured work surface and cut into squares or any other shape you like.

Place a tea spoon (or more) of the mushroom mixture in the center of the square and sprinkle with a bit more cheese.

Beat an egg and and brush the square edges so they'll stick when folded.
Fold the square tips to the center so you cover the mushroom mix.

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment paper.
Place the pastries on the baking sheet and  brush the squares with egg.

Let them cook in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

And there you have them.

Delicious Cheesy Mushroom Puffs! :)

Note: You can use this mixture with your favorite pasta. Just don't reduce the sauce as much as you'll do for the puffs.

Text and photos by Ana Ribeiro aka Arte e Luar.