The Ease Of Making A Strudel.

A new culinary discovery in our house.

Sauerkraut is so very versatile and of course so very healthy. Great nourishment for those beneficial bacteria living in our gut. Honestly, Sauerkraut is one of the best foods for them and it is tasty too.

Sauerkraut is extremely cheap and easily available in most shops and I keep at least one spare packet in the larder. The other larder staple-well actually fridge staple-is ready made strudel pastry. Yes, I know it is processed but honestly, who has the time or patience to make their own strudel pastry? Usually there are four extremely thin pastry sheets in the packet and those can be transformed at the drop of a hat into apple, cherry or Sauerkraut strudels.

For lunch today I opened a package of the fermented cabbage and drained out any of the liquid whilst arranging the pastry sheets on an oven tray. One or two pats of vegan butter among them and they were ready for the cabbage. I put the lot into the middle, flattened it into an elongated shape, put some spices on top and then rolled the whole lot up into an oblong sausage shape. Into the oven and that was it.

About fifteen minutes later it was ready and I didn't even have to call Bob to get his slice as the aroma of a freshly baked strudel was wafting about the house. Nice, and so was the strudel. How quick and easy to make and so little fuss. Brilliant. A new edition to my menu roster which has cracked the nod of approval from Bob...none left.

Often the simplest things are the tastiest and in this case also healthy. Try it sometime, you might be pleasantly surprised and your gut bacteria will thank you.

Biggi