Apple and lemon grass strudel with lychee and basil salad

The strudel or alma retes is one of the most popular Hungarian desserts. For the cinnamon lovers amongst you, sorry this recipe doesn’t have any! But try it anyway because it’s really simple and really good.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Apples (700 gr red medium size)
Sugar (100 gr)
Lemon grass (1 stalk)
Castor sugar (60 gr )
Butter (60 gr)
Dry biscuits (80 gr)
Spring roll pastry (8 sheets)
Egg (1)
Acacia honey (4 tbsp)
Lychees (40 pieces with 2 tbsp of sugar)
Icing sugar (50 gr)
Basil (12 leaves)
Balsamic syrup (2 tbsp)

Method

We first peel the apples and then cut them into small 1cm cubes. After removing the first leaf of the lemon grass, we beat it with a rolling pin and finely chop with a sharp knife. Using a food processor, we blend the biscuits. In a large pan we melt the butter, adding the apples and sautéing them before adding the lemon grass and cooking quickly untill the apple juice has evaporated. We remove it from the heat and toss in the biscuits. We then set aside to cool down.
We brush one sheet of spring roll pastry with a beaten egg and then put another sheet on top, brushing again with the egg. We spread a quarter of the apple mixture on top and then fold over the pastry into the the classic strudel shape. We brush one final time with the egg and follow the same procedure with the remaining six sheets of pastry. When done, we make sure to keep them cool.
We peel and remove the bones of the lychees, cutting the fruit into thin wedges, adding the sugar and setting aside.
Taking each of the strudel parts, we cut each one in three and then arrange them flat on an oven tray two on the bottom and one on top in between. We cover them with honey and bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes at 180 °C. Meanwhile, we cut the basil and toss it with the lychees and then remove the strudels and serve immediately with the lychee salad, covering them generously with icing sugar and adding some drops of balsamic syrup.

Tips:

Difficulty: easy
Preparation: 90 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

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