Leek and Cheese Scrolls

This is how naive I am, a little while ago I bought a savory cheese scroll, I was hungry and in desperate need of carbs. I chomped into my scroll and was surprised by how much vegemite was in it. It seemed a little offensive to me, how come they upped the amount of vegemite in savory scrolls and why wasn't I consulted? While I was feeling sorry for my self and dreading the soon to hit heart burn (vegemite gives me heart burn....you would think that I would just stop eating it huh?), I contemplated creating a whole new savory scroll, one that would delight and be full of cheese. So hence the birth of the leek and cheese scroll.

There are two ways to make Daz happy, give him any type of gadget or cook him anything with leek in it. In fact that is how I've gotten him to start enjoying broccoli by making a leek and broccoli soup, I thought I would never see the day when he was actually ask me to cook something with broccoli in it. And now every time we go shopping we must come home with leeks. I have an issue with paying more than $2 for a leek, but I've seen him pile in $3.50 leeks into our shopping trolley. One day we'll be poor because we've spent all our money on leeks! You've hear of the credit crunch, we'll be in the leek deficit!

So when I told him my idea for these scrolls he got pretty excited, and insisted that I make them straight away so I did. My recipe makes roughly 18 small scrolls. They were so tasty, I struggled to keep Daz away long enough for me to take the photos! By the end of the day there were 2 lonely scrolls left, and then came the all too familiar over eating guilt.

These scrolls are pretty easy to make, in fact I don't think I'll buy another scroll again. The flavors are endless and you can have them hot and fresh from your oven. What more could you ask for?, other than if someone else could make them for you.

Leek and Cheese Scrolls

Make 18 small scrolls

INGREDIENTS

1 large leek

2 cups of plain flour

7 grams of dry yeast

40 mL milk, warm to blood temperature

100 grams of grated cheese, eg. tasty, Parmesan, Gruyère

pinch of sugar

pinch of salt

butter

1 egg, beaten

METHOD

1. In a small bowl add the dry yeast and half a cup of warm water, roughly at blood temperature. Add a pinch of sugar and allow the yeast mixture to become frothy. The sugar helps to kick start the yeast. In a large bowl add the flour and make a small well in the middle. Add the milk and then the yeast mixture. using your hands start to work the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, once a little of the flour has been incorporated into the yeast mixture you can now add the salt. Adding the salt directly to your yeast mixture will kill the live mixture preventing the dough from rising. Continue to mix all the ingredients together, adding more warm water when needed, until you have a dough, similar to a pizza dough consistency. Cover the bowl with glad wrap and place in a warm place to prove, the dough will become roughly double in original size, this will take around 45minutes.

2. Slice the leek thinly. Sautee in a medium size pan with a knob of butter. Do not allow it to caramelise, you only want the leek to be soft. This will take 3-5 minutes.

3. Once the dough is ready, flour a clean working surface and roll the dough to roughly 3-4 mm in thickness. Sprinkle the leek and cheese over the entire surface of the dough. Then gently roll the dough into a long sausage. Taking a sharp knife cut the dough into 1-2 cm pieces, then transfer to a baking lined tray, making sure to leave a little space between each scroll as they will continue to grow.

before

after second proving

4. Cover the scrolls with baking paper and place them in a warm place, this is the second proving. Allow them to roughly double in size again, this will take about 45 minutes. In the meantime preheat the over to 180C.

5. Once they are ready brush them with the beaten egg wash, and place in the oven. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until golden ontop.