Mushroom Goat Cheese Braid with Balsamic Glaze - what else can I say here? Delicious. An elegant meal to serve for your loved ones.
Originally Posted September 6, 2016. Updated 1/21/21
A couple weeks ago (Well, a few years ago, as I update this post!), one of my friends shared a post from the local renaissance festival.
The post described a fancy dinner they were having, which included a description of a mushroom puff pastry thing.
I made a comment about how I was pretty meh on most of it, but would like to spend some quality time with that mushroom pastry.
She replied in kind, and we both kind of got... whatever the food equivalent of "lecherous" is ... about it.
We decided that we would have to finally make some time to get together, and make one of them.
This weekend was the big day.. and she and her husband came down with a virus. BOO!
The Mushroom Goat Cheese Braid
So, to not let the ingredients go to waste, I went ahead and made this mushroom goat cheese braid for my husband.
I took inspiration from my mushroom turnovers, and the filling was *SO* good. I really have to figure out how to make a gluten-free puff pastry... Hmmm.
Anyway, we glazed and drizzled it with balsamic vinegar. We had a bottle of fancy, expensive stuff that I've been afraid to even open - oh, it was good stuff!
I'm still a little afraid to use it and am basically hoarding it, but at least I took the first step and used it once!
Enjoy this mushroom goat cheese braid!
How to Make This Mushroom Goat Cheese Braid
The use of a pre-made puff pastry makes this an incredibly easy dish to put together.
Just make sure your puff pastry is thawed before starting!
Here are the steps:
Make the Filling
In a large pan, saute mushrooms, onion, and garlic in olive oil, until the liquid comes out and mushrooms are very soft.
Add wine, continue to cook until all wine has boiled off. Stir in thyme, season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
Assemble the Puff Pastry Braid
Unfold thawed pastry sheet onto parchment lined pan. Roll out a little to elongate it slightly in both directions.
Use a sharp knife to make cut 1" wide strips (like a fringe) along the two long edges, ending ⅓ of the way towards the center, like this:
Evenly spread filling over the center ⅓ of the dough, sprinkle with the goat cheese.
Take one of the end strips and fold it across the filling, at a slight diagonal.
Take the top edge strip from the other side, and fold it across the filling, ending just over top of the first one.
Continue, alternating sides, until the whole thing is "braided".
Whisk together egg and balsamic vinegar, use a pastry brush to liberally spread it over the whole braid.
Bake and Serve!
Bake for 30 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown.
Remove from heat, drizzle with more balsamic vinegar if you like.
Enjoy!
More Fancy Recipes
Planning for a special dinner, whether Valentine’s Day, a special date, or a fancy dinner party? Here are a few recipes to consider!
Baklava Cheesecake
Balsamic Mushroom Baked Brie
Boozy Crème Brûlée
Chocolate Dessert Ravioli
Clementine Mousse with Champagne
Creamy Mustard Chicken
Creamy Vanilla 6" Cheesecake
Easy Kahlua Panna Cotta
Fancy Tea Sandwiches
How to Make Cream Puffs & Croquembouche
Mushroom Brie TurnoversPepper Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Cream Sauce
Phyllo Crab Triangles
Savory Tomato Shortcake
Seafood Mousse
Shrimp & Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms
Traditional Raspberry Mousse
White Chocolate Almond Amaretto Truffles
Wild Rice Stuffed Chicken Breast with Dijon Chive Cream Sauce
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Mushroom and Goat Cheese Braid
Ingredients
- 1 lb Baby Bella Mushrooms Sliced
- ½ Medium Onion Thinly sliced
- 1-2 Garlic cloves Pressed or finely minced
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- ¼ cup Dry White Wine
- 2 teaspoon Fresh Thyme Finely chopped
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 Sheet Puff Pastry thawed
- ¼ cup+ Crumbled Goat Cheese
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Tbsp+ Nice Quality Balsamic Vinegar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large pan, saute mushrooms, onion, and garlic in olive oil, until the liquid comes out and mushrooms are very soft. Add wine, continue to cook until all wine has boiled off. Stir in thyme, season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
- Unfold thawed pastry sheet onto parchment lined pan. Roll out a little to elongate it slightly in both directions.
- Use a sharp knife to make cut 1″ wide strips (like a fringe) along the two long edges, ending ⅓ of the way towards the center.
- Evenly spread filling over the center ⅓ of the dough, sprinkle with goat cheese.
- Take one of the end strips and fold it across the filling, at a slight diagonal. Take the top edge strip from the other side, and fold it across the filling, ending just over top of the first one. Continue, alternating sides, until the whole thing is “braided”.
- Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, use a pastry brush to liberally spread it over the whole braid.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown.
- Remove from heat, drizzle with more balsamic vinegar if you like. Serve hot!
Liliane V Abello
Delicious! Is there a video on how to make this one? It would have helped.I had a few lessons learned for next attempt.
J
Can I make ahead. Bake and freeze it? Then bake again. Or mKe ahead and freeze raw? Then take out-of freezer and defoest only 15 minutes then bake ?
Marie Porter
I'd freeze it raw, slightly thaw it, then bake.
Brook Chisholm
I tested this out tonight for an upcoming potluck-type party, and not only was it fairly easy, but it looks great and tastes fantastic!
I had some leeks I needed to use up from a CSA box, so I substituted 2 leeks for the onion, and I loved the result. I recommend tasting your filling before assembling; the white wine I had on hand wasn't acidic enough to add much brightness, so I added a drizzle of rice wine vinegar in with the wine and simmered it off. It wasn't obvious, but it helped. And I needed way more salt than I had put in initially.
The only difficulty I had with this recipe was that after I rolled out my dough a bit, one side stuck to the parchment paper, and had to be scraped off with a sharp knife underneath. Next time I will dust the parchment with a little flour first. In the end, though, after it puffed up it wasn't really noticeable.
Do not skip the balsamic-egg glaze! It really added a great flavor and looks very professional too!
I'm saving this one--Definitely will make this recipe again! Thank you!