It’s Vegan MoFo III, the Vegan Month of Food, Day 22.

Yesterday, I shared a truly simple yet entirely delicious phyllo dessert with you – today I bring you its savoury cousin.

This is one of my husband’s house specialties. Just as I gave him full credit for yesterday’s dessert, I must do the same for today’s dinner. He’s an experimenter in the kitchen and lately it’s all been about phyllo. Getting him to write down what he was doing was no easy task. He doesn’t like to be held down by rules in the kitchen – he likes to feel and taste his way through it. Still, I persevered to get something in writing and this is what he came up with. It’s a little different each time he makes it, but that’s part of its charm. I’m not complaining – this is tasty stuff.

This dish is very forgiving – the recipe is more of a guideline than a strict plan of action.

Spicy Mushroom Phyllo

• Phyllo dough, thawed and ready to use
• 1 lb cremini mushrooms, chopped (or white mushrooms)
• 3 slices of bread
• 1 – 1.5 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced (to taste)
• 1Tbsp red curry paste
• 2/3 – 1 cup coconut milk (or almond or rice milk for a lighter dish)
• 3/4 cup sliced almond
• 1 bell pepper – yellow, red or orange, minced
• 2 – 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast (to taste)
• oil (for stir fry and for brushing dough)
• water (as needed)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Warm 1-2 Tbsp oil in a skillet at medium-high heat on stove and stir fry mushrooms. When mushrooms have reduced considerably in size, lower heat to medium-low. Drain mushrooms and finely mince. Return to skillet.

Add minced ginger to  mushrooms and toss together in skillet.

Turn heat off on stove but leave skillet there. Check on it occasionally to be sure contents do not stick to bottom of pan.

Cut the bread by quartering each slice three times – quarter a slice, then quarter those pieces, then quarter those pieces (you’ll end up with tiny pieces). Add almond slices and cubed bread to skillet and mix everything together very gently (you don’t want to completely break up the almond slices).

Add coconut milk (or almond or rice milk) a bit at a time until right consistency is achieved. You’re looking for everything to be quite moist, but not liquidy.

Lay phyllo over your work area. Layer three pieces of phyllo directly on top of each other. Lightly brush oil over the top of the phyllo. With a sharp knife, quarter the phyllo as it lays flat. Fill a small bowl or glass with water and keep nearby. Water acts like glue when you’re working with phyllo.

Spoon mushroom mixture equally onto each of the four pieces of phyllo. Now wrap the phyllo up into a square package, just as if wrapping a present. Dip your fingers in the water and touch the dough as you make each fold – this will help the dough stay together and not unravel.

Place each phyllo package on a parchment lined baking sheet and slide into oven. Bake until phyllo starts to turn golden, about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Monitor closely to prevent scorching.

Watch out – it’s steamy when it comes out of the oven. Enjoy.

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