Talking Turkey: Wild Mushroom Puff Pastry from Woodenhead

Editor's Note: We're going to wrap our week of Thanksgiving wine pairings and winery recipes with a savory wild mushroom puff pastry recipe from Nikolai Stez and Zina Bower at Woodenhead Vintners. Longtime favorites of the K&L staff, Woodenhead makes earthy, balanced Pinots (as well as delicious Zins and a saline, crisp French Colombard that would go great with oyster stuffing) that play harmony in this Thanksgiving duet.  

Wild Mushroom Puff Pastry

Ingredients

4 large cups black chanterelle mushrooms (or hedgehogs, golden chanterelles or other wild mushrooms) coarsely chopped

2 large cups Swiss chard leaves coarsely chopped (no stalks, please)

4 shallots thinly sliced (divided)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 cup grated St. Jorge Cheese from Matos Cheese Factory (or cheese of your choice)

Salt & pepper to taste

1 lb. puff pastry dough

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

In large skillet, sauté 2 thinly sliced shallots in olive oil until translucent.

Add coarsely chopped Swiss chard leaves.

Add red wine vinegar, salt & pepper to taste.

When wilted, remove from skillet and place contents into bowl and set aside.

In same skillet, sauté remaining 2 sliced shallots in butter until shallots are translucent.

Add the black chanterelle mushrooms to the skillet and continue sautéing.

Add dry red wine and salt & pepper to taste. Cook until mushrooms are soft.

Remove from heat, add mushrooms to Swiss chard mixture and mix to combine.

Toast fresh pine nuts in skillet. Once toasted, remove from skillet and add to mushroom and Swiss chard mixture.

Add freshly ground nutmeg to the filling. Mix all together. Let cool.

Roll out 1 lb. puff pastry dough to 12" by 12 " shape and place on baking sheet.

Using only half of the rolled out dough and leaving 1" around the edges (as you will be folding the dough over to cover the filling), layer half the cheese, the chard and mushroom filling, and the remaining cheese.

Brush the edges of the dough with water and fold the dough over the filling and fold the bottom edges over the top edges to completely seal the pastry.

Brush the top of the pastry dough with a water wash and cut slits on top of the pastry in several places for steam to escape.

Bake at 425°F for 25- 30 minutes.

Once ready, it will be a nice golden brown, remove from oven. Let cool slightly and serve.

Be flexible with the ingredients, be creative, you’ll have fun altering the cheese, the mushrooms, the spices and the greens. Sit back, relax and enjoy with our Woodenhead Russian River Valley Pinot Noir or even our Zinfandels. Cheers!