Savoury Strudel
Winter mushrooms, or Christmas mushrooms along with roasted Chestnuts make for this wonderful Yuletide yummy.

INGREDIENTS:

3tbs Olive Oil
2 Onions, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
500gm Tomatoes, peeled and diced
120ml Red Wine
200gm Button Mushroom, washed and sliced
150gm Winter Mushrooms, sliced (fairy rings or cockscomb)
Salt to taste
freshly ground Black Pepper
250gm Filo Pastry
100gm Butter, melted
100gm roasted Chestnuts, roughly chopped
50gm Cheddar Cheese, sliced

METHOD:
For the Filling:
Heat oil in a large saucepan, add onions and cook with the lid on for about 10 minutes.
Add garlic, tomatoes, basil and the wine. Simmer for 20 minutes without a lid, keep stirring until it thickens.
Add mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and all the liquid has evaporated.
Remove from heat and season to taste.

For the Strudel:
Set the oven a 200C.
Lay out a sheet of filo pastry and brush it with a little melted butter. Sprinkle with a third of the nuts.
Put another layer of filo pastry on this, brush with butter and sprinkle with nuts.
Repeat with two more layers of filo pastry, brushing each with butter.
Spread the filling thickly on top of the layers if pastry, leaving a 1-inch border on all four sides.
Fold the edges over. Roll it up lengthwise like a Swiss Roll, trying not to let it break. Brush with melted butter and garnish with shreds of filo pastry.
Put the strudel into the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden-brown.
Transfer to a serving dish.
Serve glazed with cheddar.
Recipe by The Claridges
Submitted by R Brar (20), http://www.Celebcurry.com

Christmas Bunet
Try out a new Christmas dessert, rustle up a simple Bunet recipe. Bunet also known as Bonet or Bounet, is a classic Italian chocolate flan.

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup Milk
200gm crumbled Amaretto Cake
1/4 cup candied Fruits and dried Fruit, soaked in Rum
30gm unsweetened Cocoa
200gm Sugar
5 Eggs
1 Egg Yolk
1 small glass Marsala Wine (or Cognac or Amaretto Liqueur)

METHOD:
Caramelised Sugar syrup:
Heat 300gm sugar in a pan. Mix it with a wooden spoon as it melts. When the sugar has completely melted and turned dark golden in color, take off the fire. Once it is cool, but not solidified, add a glass of water and mix well to get an amber coloured syrup.

Bunet:
Boil the milk, cool and set aside.
Put the crumbled amaretto cake, sugar, eggs and cocoa in a pan and cook over low heat until the mixture is thick. Beat well with a fork to smoothen out any lumps.
Add the rum-dunked dried fruit, candies and boiled milk.
Pour caramelised sugar syrup into a cooking mould and then pour in the Bunet mixture. Put the mould in a larger pan half-filled with water, or put the mixture and the syrup in a double boiler.
Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
De-mould the pudding and decorate with berries and mint, and serve.
Recipe by Diva
Submitted by Katie Crowe (24), http://www.Wowbooty.com