A French Culinary Delight

I usually don't make dishes I can't pronounce, so the first thing I did when I found this recipe was to find out how to say the French word, Gougere (listen here). A Gougere is a French puff pastry stuffed with cheese. Sound good? Then you're going to love this recipe! Oh, and don't be scared away by the fancy name, this is easier to make than icing a cake!

Mushroom Gougere
 recipe from The Vegetarian Cookbook

Ingredients:

Choux Pastry

1/2 cup white bread flour (I used Organic white flour and it worked well)
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons butter (I used Earth Balance)
2/3 cup water
2 eggs
2 ounces Emmental cheese, grated (I used Swiss-it's less expensive)

Filling

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon white flour
2/3 cup vegetable stock
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons parsley (fresh or dried)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. To make the pastry, combine the flour and the salt and mix well. Melt the butter with the water in a saucepan over medium heat, but do not let the mixture boil. Add the flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and comes away from the side of the pan. Remove from heat, let cool for 10 minutes, (while the pastry cools, prepare your vegetables) then gradually beat in the eggs until smooth and glossy. Beat in the cheese. Grease a round dish (pie plates work well) and spoon the pastry around the side. 

To make the filling, heat the oil in a large, heavy bottom skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the stock. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook for 3 minutes, or until thickened. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the chopped walnuts, and stir the remainder into the mushroom mixture with the parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the filling into the center of the dish and sprinkle the remaining walnuts over the filling.  

Bake for 40 minutes, or until pastry is risen and golden. Serve immediately. I served this with sundried tomato couscous. 

My pastry was nice and fluffy when I pulled it out of the oven, but it sunk down (as you see above) after it cooled slightly. I think it's because I used sliced Swiss cheese that I cut into shreds, so I recommend that you use finely shredded Swiss instead. 
One thing I would change about this recipe is that I would spread the pastry across the bottom of the dish as well, to make it more like a pie or quiche. I may try that next time, and if I do, I'll post about how it comes out. 


Hope you enjoy this Autumn dish!