Potato and mushroom boreka roll

Recently, while preparing for Shabbat, I had such a craving for homemade borekas. I decided to prepare both potato and mushroom fillings, but I wanted to serve them together in one pastry. I halved my regular filling recipes and prepared them. When I went to the freezer, I realized I only had one sheet of pastry left. One sheet of pastry would not make enough borekas for my family so I had to think fast and alter my recipe.

I decided to make a large pastry en croute, and it happened to be one of the best accidental surprises that ever came out of my kitchen.

I kept the flavors simple and family-friendly, although fresh thyme or sage could be added to the mushroom mixture and I will definitely be trying this with shitake mushrooms.

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This looked elegant both on the platter and on each plate. The fillings held together and it sliced beautifully. It was a perfect side dish for our roast beef dinner and I couldn’t wait to share it with you. Adults and children alike will appreciate this dish.

Ingredients
Serves 4 as a side dish

Potato filling:
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1-2 teaspoons of chicken consommé powder or salt and black pepper to taste

Mushroom filling:
10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and diced
2 cups onion, diced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons mushroom consommé powder
2-3 tablespoons water

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk plus a dash of oil, whisked, for egg wash
Optional: sesame seeds for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 F and place the wire rack in the upper third.

Peel and cube the potatoes.

Cover potatoes with water in a medium-sized pan and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the water is at a rolling boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15-20 minutes over a gentle boil until fork-tender.

Immediately drain the potatoes and return them to the cooking pot. Mash them with a hand masher. When they are mostly broken down, add the mayonnaise and mash until well combined and fluffy. You can flavor these with salt and pepper; alternatively, use a bit of chicken consommé powder to taste — between 1 and 2 teaspoons should do it and you won’t need any extra salt.

Dice the onions and mushrooms. Trim the ends of the mushroom; you can use the stems as long as they are not woody or mushy. Ten ounces of diced mushrooms will make about 3 cups. Start the onions in a sauté pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. It should take 10-15 minutes for the onions to soften and start to caramelize.

Add the mushrooms to the onions and drizzle in oil as needed.

Stir well, sprinkle lightly with salt, and allow the mushrooms to cook until they are soft and there is no liquid left in the bottom of the pan, about 10-15 minutes.

When the mixture is soft add the mushroom consommé powder, which not only adds flavor but also adds thickness to the mixture so it will bake well in the pastry.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of water to the pan and stir well. Allow this to cook for another minute before removing the pan from the heat.

If you’d like to add herbs, add 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs at this time and stir well. Taste and add salt or black pepper if desired.

When the potatoes and mushrooms are cool enough to touch you can start filling the pastry.

I prefer working with pastry on marble board or on a clean countertop.

Take the fully thawed pastry from the refrigerator and remove it from the package.

Drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil on your work surface and spread it out with your hands.

Unfold the sheet of pastry over the oiled surface and gently roll it out to expand the size. You should be able to get 2-3 inches extra per side once it’s rolled out.

Use ⅓ of the pastry toward one side to spread the potatoes, leaving about two inches from what will be the bottom seam of the pastry.

Spread the mushroom mixture over the potatoes, with more toward the center than the edges. Pick up the opposite side of the pastry, cover the filling and tuck it underneath the part with the potato filling.

Seal the loose ends with the tines of a fork.

Gently move the pastry to a parchment-lined sheet pan.

Use a sharp knife to score the top diagonally 5-7 times.

Mix an egg yolk with a splash of oil and paint the pastry with the egg wash.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.

Bake for 20 minutes before raising the heat on the oven to 425 F.

Bake an additional 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden and bubbling around the scored vents.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

The flavors come together the longer this rests. You can warm it again before serving, but it’s also excellent at room temperature.

If you have leftovers or are making this a day ahead, store loosely covered in foil at room temperature to keep the pastry texture flaky.

Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.