- Olive oil, for frying
- Knob of butter
- 150g/5¼oz chestnut mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 150g/5¼oz leeks, trimmed, well washed, drained and roughly chopped
- 250g/9oz ricotta cheese
- 250g/9oz full-fat cream cheese
- 5 tomatoes, skinned, de-seeded and chopped
- 18 pieces filo pastry (23cm x 15cm/ 9in x 6in)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 75g/3oz chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 100ml/3½fl oz vegetable stock
- 200ml/7¼fl oz red wine
- Good glug of port
- 25g/1oz cold butter, cubed
- Heat some olive oil in a pan, add the butter, and when it's melted and foaming, fry the mushrooms with the garlic and seasoning for a couple of minutes. Drain well in a large colander.
- Repeat the first step with the leeks, once you have trimmed and washed them. Drain them for as long as you can – this makes the filling good and solid.
- Mix the cheeses together in a large bowl with a good amount of seasoning until smooth (it helps to warm cheese in a microwave to soften it).
- Fold in the mushrooms, leeks and tomatoes, then chill for two hours.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Lay out six pieces of pastry on a lightly floured surface, and brush with lots of melted butter, then cover with another layer and brush again. Add a final layer, but this time only brush the edges of the pastry.
- Divide the chilled filling among the six rectangles and place it in a sausage shape towards the bottom edge of the pastry.
- Fold the bottom edge over the filling, tuck in the sides then roll up into a tight parcel and brush with butter.
- Put the strudels on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 25 minutes.
- To make the sauce, heat the oil in a pan and cook the onion, mushrooms and garlic with seasoning until soft.
- Add the stock and reduce down to nearly nothing.
- Add the wine and port and reduce by at least half.
- Just before serving, whisk in the butter to give it a really great shine.
- To serve, pour a little sauce on each plate and sit a strudel on top.