Oodles of Strudels!

My husband and I try to eat vegetarian a few times a month, (which is impressive since my husband is from Omaha, Nebraska, where steak rules all). Generally, we will have bean and cheese burritos, or a big salad, or soup. Recently, I stumbled on this delicious strudel, and I did not miss the meat at all. Not to mention, I will take bread and cheese over meat any day. (I should just move to Paris and get one of those bicycles with the basket in front so I can load it up with baguettes, cheese, chocolate and coffee and then bicycle to my little French loft and go “le crazy”…all while wearing a beret, of course). Anyway…this strudel looks very impressive when it’s finished, and is substantial enough to make a complete meal. If you absolutely MUST have meat at every meal, you could chop up some pepperoni or Italian sausage and toss it in. However, I DARE you to try it vegetarian just once, and then decide.

Tuscan Artichoke and Spinach Strudel

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups chopped baby Portobello mushrooms

1/3 cup drained sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped

4 tsp. oil from tomatoes, divided

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2 tbsp. pesto

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 cup coarsely chopped artichoke hearts

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup parmesan, divided

8 oz. tube reduced-fat crescent rolls

1 egg

3 tbsp. finely chopped walnuts

Steps:

1.   Saute mushrooms and tomatoes in 2 tsp. of oil from sun-dried tomatoes until tender. Cool.

2.   In a large bowl, combine spinach, pesto, and pepper. Add artichokes, mozzarella, 5 tbsp. parmesan, and cooled mushroom mixture. Mix well.

3.   Unroll crescent dough onto lightly greased baking pan. Seal perforations and roll out into a 14x9 rectangle.

4.   Spread filling in a 3-inch wide strip down the dough. On each long side, cut 1 inch wide strips to within a ½ inch of filling.

5.   Starting at one end, alternate folding strips at an angle across filling.

6.   Whisk egg and remaining oil and brush over pastry. Sprinkle with walnuts.

7.   Bake 20 minutes at 350. Remove, sprinkle with remaining parmesan and bake 10 more minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before slicing.