Ingredients

6 sheets filo pastry
40 g hazelnuts, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan then very finely chopped or coarsely ground
extra virgin olive oil, for brushing

for the hazelnut and mushroom stuffing
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, approx. 75 g, peeled and grated
200 g field mushrooms, finely chopped
200g spinach leaves
100 g hazelnuts, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan, skins rubbed off then roughly chopped
50 g pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan
50 g breadcrumbs
50 g dried cranberries
40 g sun dried tomatoes, very finely chopped
40 g dried apricots, very finely chopped
60 g cashew nut butter
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp coconut amino sauce
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Steam the spinach leaves until just wilted, then remove from the heat and leave to cool. Once cool enough to handle, wrap them in kitchen paper or a clean tea towel and squeeze to remove as much liquid as you can. Chop the leaves finely and set to one side.

2. Pour the olive oil into a large pan and place over a medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and cook, stirring for 5-6 minutes or until they are just tender. Add the mushrooms, grated carrot and the garlic and cook for a further 5-6 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and any liquid from them has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the chopped spinach, breadcrumbs, pine nuts, chopped hazelnuts, dried cranberries, sun dried tomato, dried apricots, sea salt, cashew butter, soy sauce, sage, thyme, chilli flakes and smoked paprika. Mix well to combine and set aside to cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4). Unwrap the sheets of filo pastry. Place a clean tea towel on a flat worksurface and place a sheet of filo pastry and brush lightly with olive oil. Place a second sheet on top, overlapping by about 8cm and brush this sheet lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle half the ground hazelnuts evenly across the brushed filo sheets, then place another two sheets of pastry over the top of the first two, overlapping as before. Brush lightly with olive oil then sprinkle the rest of the ground hazelnuts evenly across the pastry.

4. Place a further two overlapping filo sheets on top and again brush lightly with olive oil. Now add the filling in the form of a long cylinder, siting it 3-4 cm inside from the edge of the strudel sheets. Using the tea towel to help you, carefully roll the filo sheets from the edge of the rectangle nearest to the filling, taking it over the filling and rolling it gently into a long log. Use a little olive oil to seal the ends.

5. Lift the log carefully onto an oiled baking tray. Brush lightly with more olive oil then transfer to the pre-heated oven. Cook for 25 minutes or until l golden brown and crisp. Leave to cool for a few minutes before cutting into slices with a sharp knife.

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