NOT A STRUDEL FROM TRIESTE! BUT ALMOST

A friend who was going overseas  gave me a packet of phyllo pastry (unopened) and not being a person who throws food away, I used it to encase a filling of a strucolo di pomi, an apple strudel as made in Trieste.

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I have to say that I would much rather make my own pastry as I found the phyllo extremely annoying to use. It kept on breaking and although I covered it with a cloth it also dried out. There was no way that I could make a strudel of any size with it so I made a pie.

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Walnuts roughly chopped and raisins (usually sultanas are used) soaked in Grappa.

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Add cinnamon, apples, grated lemon rind and sugar.

Some chopped chocolate and lemon juice.

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Toast some fresh breadcrumbs in some butter. Cool.

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Line a baking pan with some baking paper, butter it. Place 5 sheets of phyllo pastry on top of the paper. Make sure that you brush each sheet of pastry with a mixture of some melted butter and oil (I use extra virgin olive oil as this is what is used to make the common pastry for the strucolo.

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Place the filling into the baking tin lined with the pastry and cover with 5 sheets of phyllo, greased between each sheet as before.

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Try to roll the edges as best you can. Phyllo is very brittle and I found this difficult to do. Brush with butter and oil mixture again.

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I presented it warm with some home made mascarpone. This is not difficult to make, it is economical and you will end up with more than a 250g tub, the size for shop  purchased mascarpone.

APPLE STRUDEL (TRIESTE: Strucolo de pomi)

MASCARPONE and its many uses. How to make it at home.