POTATO, BACON AND SAUERKRAUT STRUDEL

Potato, Bacon and Sauerkraut Strudel image

I had some of my sauerkraut filling left over from the perogies I made over the Easter holidays and decided this would be a great way to use it up. I always mix sour cream and mushrooms into my sauerkraut when I make perogies so my left overs were a bit different, but with just sauerkraut this be good too. Instead of phylo, I used puff pastry from Trader Joe's as I find it easier to work with. Handle these carefully as they are very delicate. Cut with a serrated knife. Make sure you let them cool down before cutting as they will fall apart.

Provided by Jo Zimny @EmilyJo

Number Of Ingredients 10

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Ingredients

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced (i used yukon golds)
4-6 slice(s) bacon, diced into 1" pieces (i used lean turkey bacon in mine)
1 large sweet onion, large dice
1 large bay leaf, or two small ones
1 teaspoon(s) fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon(s) whole caraway seeds ( i left this out)
2 cup(s) sauerkraut (from the jar and drained)
4-sheets - phylo dough (i used 2 sheets of trader joe's puff pastry)
3 teaspoon(s) butter, melted
- sour cream for serving along side the strudel

Steps:

In a large saucepan, boil the potatoes. Rinse and mash with some butter and the fresh ground pepper (I used vegan margarine). Set aside.
In a large pan saute the onions, bacon and bay leaf until the onions just start to get brown. Drain any extra fat from the pan. Remove the bay leaf.
Add the potatoes, and sauerkraut to the onions, bacon mixture. Give it a really good toss to make sure it's well mixed. At this point, if you want to wait to make the strudel put this in the fridge for 24 hours.
Melt your butter and get a pastry brush, brush the first piece of phylo, repeat with the next two, but don't grease the top sheet.
Pile the bacon, potato, sauerkraut mixture on top of the phylo and spread it out evenly. I used a small offset spatula to do this and it worked great. Remember to leave about 1-1/2 inch space along the edges of the phylo. Seal the phylo making sure the sides are sealed and the bottom and put the seam down on the baking sheet. I put parchment on mine to make sure it doesn't burn. Bake at 400'F for 40 minutes.
NOTE: I used Trader Joe's puff pastry to make mine, I thawed two sheets and rolled them out to 12"x14" and spread the filling on each one, rolled it up and sealed it with some egg wash. Bake at 400'F for about 20 minutes.
Keep an eye on your strudel whether you used phylo or puff pastry, some ovens are hotter then others and this could easily burn.
Let the strudel cool for at least 20 minutes before serving, it can be a tad soggy, but this is how it's supposed to be. It tends to be less soggy with the puff pastry.
Serve with sour cream.
Enjoy!