Spicy chestnut strudel candies with red wine sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 8 sheets of puff pastry, frozen, square
• 200 g leek
• 140 g celery
• 2 garlic cloves
• 20 g butter
• 250 g chestnuts, vacuum-packed
• 1 organic lemon(s), peel
• 125 g crème fraîche
• some salt and pepper
• some flour for the work surface
• 100 g onion(s), red
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• 150 g mushrooms, brown
• 4 thyme sprigs or 0.5 tbsp dried
• 40 g butter
• 1 tbsp cane sugar
• 200 ml vegetable stock
• 400 ml red wine, dry

Instructions

Working time approx. 50 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

vegetarian

Preheat the oven to 180°C (top/bottom heat). Thaw the puff pastry on a floured work surface for about 5 minutes. For the filling, trim the leek, halve it lengthwise, wash it, and cut it into half rings about 3 mm wide. Trim and wash the celery, and cut it into pieces about 3 mm thick. Peel and finely dice the garlic. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the leek and celery over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and fry for 2 minutes. Roughly chop the chestnuts with your hands. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chestnuts, and mix well. Wash the lemon in hot water, rub it dry, and finely grate the zest. Add the zest and crème fraîche to the pan and mix everything together. Season with salt and pepper. Lightly roll out the puff pastry squares with a rolling pin to about 12 cm x 12 cm. Place a slightly heaped tablespoon of the filling into the center of each square and fold the dough over the center. Twist the ends together like a candy. Place the candies on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, leaving some space between them. Bake in the preheated oven on the middle shelf for about 30 minutes until crispy. Meanwhile, for the sauce, peel and finely dice the onions and garlic. Clean the mushrooms with a cloth and trim off any dry stem ends. Cut the mushrooms into 2 mm wide slices. Rinse the thyme with cold water, shake dry, and pick off the leaves. Melt half the butter in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and sugar and cook for another 5 minutes until the mushrooms are lightly browned. Deglaze with the stock. Simmer over high heat for about 5 minutes until reduced to 2/3 of the volume. Add the red wine and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes until reduced to half the volume. Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining butter. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve the candies with the sauce and garnish with thyme leaves, if desired. They go perfectly with traditional roast side dishes such as red cabbage and dumplings, making them a great vegetarian alternative to a holiday roast. Dairy- and egg-free, they’re suitable for vegans: You can use vegan puff pastry and margarine instead of butter. In the filling, replace the crème fraîche with oat cream and 1 tablespoon of almond butter. If necessary, reduce the mixture over low heat until it’s nice and creamy.