Savory Cherry Strudel

This Savory Cherry Strudel recipe was developed by one of Cherry Republic's own, Gene Kovacs and his partner Craig (the true chef, by Gene's own admission!). He brought this dish to an office brunch and it stole the show. Full of chicken, goat cheese, Cherry Republic Dried Cherries, sundried tomatoes, Poblano peppers, bacon and more, it's a savory appetizer or main dish that your family and friends will request again and again.

Filling:

• 8 oz. Goat Cheese, softened to room temp
• 4- 5-6oz Chicken Breast, Cooked and small diced or shredded
• 1 cup Cherry Republic Montmorency Dried Cherries, dried and coarsely chopped
• ½ cup Sundried Tomato, small diced
• 2 Poblano Peppers, roasted, peeled, deseeded and diced small
• ½ cup Bacon, finely diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• ½ cup Sweet Yellow Onion, small diced and sautéed
• ½ cup White Mushrooms, small diced
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• ¼ tsp. thyme, dried
• ½ tsp. Kosher Salt
• ¼ tsp. Black Pepper

Crust:

• 1 Pack Fillo Dough, thawed slowly in refrigerator
• 2 sticks Unsalted Butter, melted over low heat

Filling Preparations:

1. In Large mixing bowl add goat cheese, chicken, cherries, sundried tomatoes, and poblano peppers. Set aside to add other ingredients later.
2.  In large sauté skillet over medium heat add bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon; add to mixing bowl with other ingredients. Do not discard bacon fat.
3. Add garlic, onion and white mushrooms to sauté skillet that the bacon was cooked in and  cook until onions are tender. Add heavy cream and seasoning to skillet. Continue over medium heat and simmer cream until reduced by half. With rubber spatula scrape all ingredients into mixing bowl with other ingredients. Mix well with spoon. Set aside for crust filling.

Crust Preparations:

1. Unroll the fillo dough on a dry counter top. Remove one sheet of dough and place on a second area. Brush the piece of dough gently and liberally with the melted butter. Add a second sheet of dough and repeat the first step. Continue this until you have about ten sheets on top of each other all brushed with butter before adding the next sheet.
2. On top of the dough add 1/3 of the mixture from your bowl of filling. Form the mixture and cover with dough as you would a burrito. Once rolled, place on greased cookie sheet and brush the top with melted butter. Continue this until all mixture is used. This should yield three 10x3 inch strudels.
3. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees until golden brown. Approximately 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool for five minutes and slice with a bread knife gently. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note*

Craig A. Kovacs
Executive Chef