This 7-layer brunch/breakfast dish tastes as light as a feather as well as delicious. The phyllo dough gives a unique packaging that I find different and appealing. All filling ingredients can be prepared the day before serving so that only a 15-minute assembly time is needed before baking in the oven. I always receive rave reviews when I serve this. (I saw this brunch entree made during a Phyllo Class taught by Marie Huntington of the former COOKS AND COMPANY Store in Columbus, Indiana, and it will yield 12 to 14 slices. There was no recipe distributed to the students so I took copious notes, and the following is what I have put on paper for friends who've asked me for the recipe.)
INGREDIENTS
Half a 1-pound box of frozen fillo or phyllo dough leaves, thawed. (I use Athens Foods frozen fillo dough leaves, thawed according to the package instructions.)
1/2 pound unsalted butter, clarified
1 to 2 Tbsp unsalted butter or more for sauteeing leeks, mushrooms & cooking eggs
12 eggs
1 recipe Mornay Sauce (recipe follows)
2 medium-sized leeks, washed well & dried
1 10-oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed OR 2 to 2.5 lbs fresh spinach leaves, washed & wilted
1 lb fresh button mushrooms, cleaned & sliced (I use 2 mm slicing disc on my food processor.)
1/2 lb chopped cooked ham
1 cup shredded baby Swiss cheese -OR- shredded gruyere cheese
Thaw phyllo dough gently in refrigerator overnight. (NOTE: Any ingredients you put inside phyllo dough must be room temperature or cooler. Do not fill dough with hot ingreidnts.) Prepare 1 recipe of Mornay Sauce. Thoroughly wash the leeks to rid them of all dirt & chop before sauteeing in butter. (Green onions may be substituted for the leeks.) Thoroughly squeeze all water from the thawed chopped spinach. Clean mushrooms with a damp mushroom brush, slice and saute in butter until all extra moisture has evaporated.
Loosely scramble 1 dozen eggs in butter until they resemble cottage cheese. I lightly salt the eggs. (You want them wet looking because they will continue to cook in the oven inside the phyllo dough.)
Cool all ingredients until they reach room temperature. (You can prepare up to this point a day ahead and store filling ingredients in the refrigerator overnight).
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 12-cup Teflon-lined Bundt pan heavily with some of the clarified butter. Layer the 1/2 pound of phyllo dough sheets, one by one, on the bottom and up the sides of the Bundt pan. Brush each sheet with clarified butter, including the part of each sheet that will hang over and down the outside of the Bundt pan. (It doesn't matter if some of the sheets crumble or tear. There are so many sheets in all that you won't have to worry about any of the filling ingredients leaking out as long as you're careful to overlap the phyllo sheets evenly around the Bundt pan. Part of each sheet will cover the hole in the center of the pan, but most of each sheet will hang over the outside edge of the pan and down the side.) Work quickly to butter the dough and line the pan with the individuals sheets so the phyllo dough does not completely dry out before you're finished, or it will become too dry and brittle to work with easily. When finished overlapping and lining the Bundt pan with the 1/2 pound of buttered phyllo dough leaves, layer the remaining ingredients or the filling ingredients inside the Bundt pan on top of the phyllo dough in this order:
1) Put Mornay Sauce in first followed by
2) Sauteed mushrooms then add the
3) Sauteed leeks and next
4) Spinach followed by
5) Ham,
6) Cheese, and
7) the loosely scrambled eggs go on top.
Fold phyllo dough that is hanging over the outside of the pan and also that which is covering the center hole over the top of the eggs. Fold the dough layer by layer, buttering the ends of each layer with more clarified butter as you fold it over the top of the eggs.
Brush lots of butter on top after you have folded all the dough leaves over the top of the filling ingredients. (You may punch out the dough covering the hole in the center of the pan if any of the dough leaves still cover it. Don't worry about any dough leaves crumbling when you do that.)
Bake in a 375-degree preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the phyllo dough is a golden brown. Remove pan from oven and let it sit on a cake rack on the counter for 10 minutes, then invert the Bundt pan onto a serving platter to remove the egg dish from the pan. Let the phyllo egg brunch dish sit for a few more minutes inverted and out of the pan, then slice & serve.
Mornay Sauce: 2 Tbsp butter; 2 Tbsp. flour; 1 cup heated whole milk; salt & freshly ground pepper & freshly ground nutmeg to taste; 1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; 1 to 2 Tbsp unsalted butter.
Make roux of 2 Tbsp melted butter & flour, cooking over medium heat for 1 minute, until raw flour is blended & frothy. Add hot milk gradually, whisking or stirring vigorously as you add the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Stir in cheese and the 1-2 Tbsp butter enrichment along with the seasonings to taste.
Bon appetit!
INGREDIENTS
Half a 1-pound box of frozen fillo or phyllo dough leaves, thawed. (I use Athens Foods frozen fillo dough leaves, thawed according to the package instructions.)
1/2 pound unsalted butter, clarified
1 to 2 Tbsp unsalted butter or more for sauteeing leeks, mushrooms & cooking eggs
12 eggs
1 recipe Mornay Sauce (recipe follows)
2 medium-sized leeks, washed well & dried
1 10-oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed OR 2 to 2.5 lbs fresh spinach leaves, washed & wilted
1 lb fresh button mushrooms, cleaned & sliced (I use 2 mm slicing disc on my food processor.)
1/2 lb chopped cooked ham
1 cup shredded baby Swiss cheese -OR- shredded gruyere cheese
Thaw phyllo dough gently in refrigerator overnight. (NOTE: Any ingredients you put inside phyllo dough must be room temperature or cooler. Do not fill dough with hot ingreidnts.) Prepare 1 recipe of Mornay Sauce. Thoroughly wash the leeks to rid them of all dirt & chop before sauteeing in butter. (Green onions may be substituted for the leeks.) Thoroughly squeeze all water from the thawed chopped spinach. Clean mushrooms with a damp mushroom brush, slice and saute in butter until all extra moisture has evaporated.
Loosely scramble 1 dozen eggs in butter until they resemble cottage cheese. I lightly salt the eggs. (You want them wet looking because they will continue to cook in the oven inside the phyllo dough.)
Cool all ingredients until they reach room temperature. (You can prepare up to this point a day ahead and store filling ingredients in the refrigerator overnight).
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 12-cup Teflon-lined Bundt pan heavily with some of the clarified butter. Layer the 1/2 pound of phyllo dough sheets, one by one, on the bottom and up the sides of the Bundt pan. Brush each sheet with clarified butter, including the part of each sheet that will hang over and down the outside of the Bundt pan. (It doesn't matter if some of the sheets crumble or tear. There are so many sheets in all that you won't have to worry about any of the filling ingredients leaking out as long as you're careful to overlap the phyllo sheets evenly around the Bundt pan. Part of each sheet will cover the hole in the center of the pan, but most of each sheet will hang over the outside edge of the pan and down the side.) Work quickly to butter the dough and line the pan with the individuals sheets so the phyllo dough does not completely dry out before you're finished, or it will become too dry and brittle to work with easily. When finished overlapping and lining the Bundt pan with the 1/2 pound of buttered phyllo dough leaves, layer the remaining ingredients or the filling ingredients inside the Bundt pan on top of the phyllo dough in this order:
1) Put Mornay Sauce in first followed by
2) Sauteed mushrooms then add the
3) Sauteed leeks and next
4) Spinach followed by
5) Ham,
6) Cheese, and
7) the loosely scrambled eggs go on top.
Fold phyllo dough that is hanging over the outside of the pan and also that which is covering the center hole over the top of the eggs. Fold the dough layer by layer, buttering the ends of each layer with more clarified butter as you fold it over the top of the eggs.
Brush lots of butter on top after you have folded all the dough leaves over the top of the filling ingredients. (You may punch out the dough covering the hole in the center of the pan if any of the dough leaves still cover it. Don't worry about any dough leaves crumbling when you do that.)
Bake in a 375-degree preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the phyllo dough is a golden brown. Remove pan from oven and let it sit on a cake rack on the counter for 10 minutes, then invert the Bundt pan onto a serving platter to remove the egg dish from the pan. Let the phyllo egg brunch dish sit for a few more minutes inverted and out of the pan, then slice & serve.
Mornay Sauce: 2 Tbsp butter; 2 Tbsp. flour; 1 cup heated whole milk; salt & freshly ground pepper & freshly ground nutmeg to taste; 1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; 1 to 2 Tbsp unsalted butter.
Make roux of 2 Tbsp melted butter & flour, cooking over medium heat for 1 minute, until raw flour is blended & frothy. Add hot milk gradually, whisking or stirring vigorously as you add the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Stir in cheese and the 1-2 Tbsp butter enrichment along with the seasonings to taste.
Bon appetit!
