Hearty strudel with leek and sausages

Most probably you associate the word "strudel" with a sweet dessert: the famous Austrian apple strudel. But here we used the concept of “strudel” for a very simple and savory main course: a hearty strudel with leek and sausages. And we didn't use just a sausage, but the famous "Nürnberger sausages" from the South of Germany. More about that further down in the article.

How to make the hearty strudel with leek and sausages?

As mentioned in the beginning, this is really one of the most easy recipes to make. The active preparation time is only 15 minutes. While it is in the oven you can do other things, or just relax. But still this recipe is savory, surprising and above all very tasty. Definitely something to surprise your family.

Preparing the vegetables

We start by preparing the vegetables. First and foremost, the leek, one of the main actors today. We cut off the roots and upper green parts. Then we clean the remaining part under the water to remove any sand. Although this rubs the stomach it is not the most pleasant sensation in your mouth. Then we halve the washed leek lengthwise and cut the parts into half rings about 0,5 to 1 cm wide.

We also remove the skin from the onion and garlic. Then we halve the onion and cut it into fine rings. We either finely chop the garlic, or we will press it later with the garlic press.

Baking the sausages and the leeks

Now it is time to start frying the ingredients in the pan. And we start with the sausages. To do this, we heat a little oil in the pan and fry the sausages for about five minutes until they are well browned. Turn them regularly, so that all sides are nicely browned. Then we set them aside to cool. Once they have cooled down, we cut the sausages into small pieces of about one to two centimeters.

After we have taken the sausages out of the pan, we put some oil in it again (not too much) and briefly fry the onion and garlic. Then we add the leek. We now let them stew on a medium fire for a few minutes. Then the cream and the seasoning follow. I like to use a good amount of nutmeg and allspice in this recipe. But of course you can follow your own taste. Salt, pepper, cloves are certainly also good options to flavor the leek.

Now mix the herbs and the cream well under the leek and let it reduce for a few minutes. Too much moisture is not good for the puff pastry, it will break. So everything can boil down for a while. Then we also put aside the stewed leek and let it cool. This is also to protect the puff pastry.

Assemble the strudel and bake it in the oven

While the leeks and sausages are cooling, we can prepare the strudel. For example, we turn on the convection oven at 200°C and we cover a baking tray with baking paper.

When the leeks and sausages have cooled down sufficiently, we take the puff pastry out of the fridge. We then roll it out on the baking sheet with baking paper. Then we arrange the leeks first and the sausages on top of the leek. We do this in the middle of the puff pastry. So that we can fold the edges over the filling afterwards.

We first fold the short edges inwards. Then the pieces follow in length. We leave a piece open in the middle. This is to allow the hot air to escape, so that the strudel does not puff up.

Once the strudel is ready, it can go in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Check if it is nicely browned. If this is the case, you can take it out of the oven and cut it into pieces. Serving warm is recommended!

What to serve with this hearty strudel with leek and sausages?

I love lots of vegetables. So a fresh and crunchy salad should certainly not be missing to accompany this strudel with leek and sausages. Since this is a winter dish, chicory (Belgian endives) is always my first choice. But of course there is plenty of choice. Here are three of my favorite salads that I serve with this leek and sausage strudel:

• a plain chicory salad with mayonnaise (as shown in the pictures).
• chicory arugula salad.
• carrot apple salad.

What are Nürnberger sausages?

Sausages and Germany are of course a perfect match. Almost every city or region has its own type of sausages. So also the Bavarian city of Nürnberg in the south of Germany.

The Nürnberg "Rotbratwurst" is smaller and thinner than other traditional sausages. Due to its length of seven to nine centimeters and the weight of twenty to twenty-five grams, you can safely say it are small sausages. The main ingredients for this sausage are pork and marjoram. It is a typical street food that is grilled on a barbecue and served in a bun (with a lot of mustard). Or Sauerkraut, that other German classic that is traditionally served with a roll with a Nürnberger sausage.

Learn more about the Nürnberger sausages in the following articles:

• Nürnberger Rotbratwurst (Wikipedia).
• Why the Nuremberg sausage is what the world needs right now (Inside travel lab).
• Nürnberger Bratwurst / Nuremberger Sausage (MyGerman.recipes).
• Nuremberg Bratwurst - tradition for over 700 years (Christkindles market).

More surprising.German

German cuisine might not have the same reputation as French or Italian cuisine. But that does not mean that there are no delicious recipes that the world should know better. So let us start with some German inspiration here:

• German Schupfnudel with broccoli.
• Käsespätzle - the German Mac&cheese.
• Easy German poppy seed cake.
• Stew with pointed cabbage and Schupfnudel.
• Königsberger Klopse - German meatballs.

If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.