A nice meat-free dish that’s been adapted to reduce the fat level. It’s by no means low-fat, but making the sauce without butter or oil has reduced the fat. It could be reduced further by using a lower-fat cheese and skimmed milk.
Ingredients:
4 Large eggs – separated
60gm Plain flour (US – all-purpose)
400gm Milk – I used semi-skimmed, but the choice is yours
75gm Cheddar cheese – extra mature
25gm Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) – see below
250gm Closed cap mushrooms
250gm Spinach
1 Large clove of garlic
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Salt, black pepper & nutmeg – to taste
Parmegiano Regianno
Italian law is such that Parmigiano Reggiano has to be made with animal rennet. For a vegetarian dish, a vegetarian version of the cheese is sold in some UK supermarkets as Italian hard cheese. Ocado stocks it, as does Sainsbury’s in their Stamford Street Co. range and Asda in their Just Essentials. Other options such as Gran Moravia or Twineham Grange are available from online sources.
Method:
Firstly, line a 23 x 33cm (9″ x 13″) Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, leaving about 4 cm (1½ inches) upright at the sides and ends. Cut diagonally into the corners to make them neat. See this video if you’re unsure how to do this. I clip the corners together with paperclips. Use a really good quality baking parchment – if you use a cheaper supermarket one, lightly grease the top of it, particularly at the edges and corners.
Put the oven on to heat – 190°C (170°C fan), Gas Mark 5 (moderately hot).
Slice and cook the mushrooms in the olive oil until they’ve given off their liquid and are softer. Wash and add the spinach, cover and cook until it has wilted. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and (optional) nutmeg, then drain it well using a paper towel to absorb liquid if necessary.
Grate the cheeses; use a coarse grater for the cheddar and a very fine one for the parmesan.
MIx approximately a third of the milk with the flour and whisk together. Heat the rest to boiling point and add it to the flour/milk paste slowly whisking as you do so. Return it to the heat and stir until thickened. This stage can be done using a microwave – once you’ve mixed it all, heat it in 30 second bursts, stirring in between until thickened.
Take 125g of this sauce and add the well-drained mushroom and spinach mixture to it. Mix well and adjust seasonings.
Add the Cheddar cheese to the bulk of the sauce remaining and mix well to melt the cheese. Check and adjust the seasoning. Leave it to cool for 5 minutes or so and then whisk in the egg yolks.
Whisk the egg whites to the stiff-peak stage. Add about a third to the sauce and mix in; then add the rest in two stages, folding each in gently until mixed.
Pour this mixture into the prepared tin and spread it to the corners and edges, trying not to lose air from the mix as you do so – be gentle!
Cook it for 15 to 20 minutes in the middle of the oven until the roulade is nicely brown and springy to touch.
While it cooks, lay a sheet of parchment, larger than the roulade, onto a tea towel and dust it with the grated parmesan.
When the roulade is cooked, turn it out onto the cheese-topped parchment – be brave, just tip it upside down from the long side of the tray in one movement. Leave it for a couple of minutes, then remove the paper, now on the top of it, that it was cooked on.
Spread it with the mushroom/spinach sauce mix and roll it up using the paper and towel to help. It’s easier to roll if you fold a little bit at the end over to start it off, then roll the rest.
I show the sauce spread to the far end of the roulade in the picture, it’s easier if you leave a gap at the end, maybe a couple of inches (5cm).
I’m not sure that putting the parmesan onto the parchment, to end up of the outside of the roulade, adds anything. I think that next time I’ll sprinkle it over the egg white mixture before adding the sauce.
All in all, it was a pleasant dish that everyone enjoyed
just looking at the photo of the plated meal, it would be nice with a tomato or mushroom-based sauce.
