Leek knish with a melting centre
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Ingredients
Jus-Rol™ puff pastry, 1 potato, 10g cheddar, 10g mozzarella, 1 leek, cream, butter |
When I make any dish containing mashed potato I always make far more than I need. Mainly because mashed potato is my favourite food and I am a glutton who likes to indulge herself, but also because if I don't eat it out of the bowl before it can be used and actually have leftovers - it makes the most fabulously versatile ingredient. Potato cakes, croquettes, soup, gnocchi... I'll even form bean burgers with it as you'll see in my next recipes. This recipe is one of my ultimate favourite comfort foods. A knish is a Jewish recipe though this I hasten to add is my own twist on the traditional form. The thinnest crispiest flakiest outer shell, a soft warm savoury filling with an indulgent melting centre - this is pure heaven.
1) Peel and dice the potato and boil in hot salted water for 20 minutes.
2) Drain the potato and mash thoroughly, set aside until it's cool enough to handle but is still warm.
3) Finely dice the leek and sautee in a little butter. Stir through the potato with a splash of cream and season well with salt and pepper.
4) Roll out the chilled pastry until it is as thin as possible but still thick enough to handle without poking holes through it. Remember pastry is made of butter and the potato is warm so you don't want to melt it!
5) Using a tennis ball sized scoop of potato, add it to the centre of the pastry, then cut the pastry down until it is just big enough to envelop the potato. Either poke a hole in the centre or as I did, twist the pastry together to form a spiral at the top. Press grated cheddar and mozzarella into the centre of the potato - then bake for 15 - 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
I served this with pesto stuffed chicken, wrapped in bacon and creamed spinach with roast tomatoes.
