Filo Rolls with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

chant_filoppEvery year, when I see first chanterelles on the market, I am looking forward to baking my chanterelle and goat cheese tart, the most delicious way I can imagine to prepare this wonderful mushroom. This year however, as a follow up of my recent filo experiments, I decided to fill these Greek pastry sheets with the mixture I usually put into the tart/tartlets, thus creating a lighter and slightly quicker way to enjoy my beloved chanterelle and goat cheese combination.

For those who don’t know chanterelle (Cantarellus Cibarius), it’s an orange/yellow trumpet-shaped wild mushroom with a delicate aroma and taste. Chanterelle picking it is a very rewarding activity, since this mushroom is well visible thanks to its bright colour; moreover, it tends to grow in groups. I haven’t picked mushrooms for ages, but luckily, when season comes, certain varieties, such as chanterelles, are abundant here on markets and even in supermarkets. In spite of its delicate flavours, chanterelle pairs perfectly with goat cheese and fresh marjoram, so I encourage all those who can buy it to try this surprisingly good mixture of flavours. Thin, flaky filo/phyllo pastry sheets are a perfect light and neutral company for this delicious filling. 

TIPS: If you cannot get chanterelle, try replacing it with any other wild mushroom as long as it has a delicate taste and keeps firm after being cooked (I wouldn’t use here the farmed button mushroom/crimini, or whatever it’s called in your country).

I prefer to use here only fresh goat cheese or half fresh cheese and half ripening cheese. If you use only ripening goat cheese, the result will be very rich, fattier and much heavier, but of course it’s up to you (a Greek goat cheese, which has a feta consistency, is also a good option, though it’s very salty, so adjust the salt added to the mushrooms accordingly or maybe combine it with another, less salty cheese).

Fresh marjoram can be replaced with fresh oregano or fresh thyme, but if you cannot get either, do not add dried herbs because they are slightly bitter and will completely spoil this unique combination. 

Preparation: about one hour

Ingredients (yields 5 filo rolls):

5 filo/phyllo sheets

200 g fresh chanterelle mushrooms (cleaned)

150 g fresh goat cheese or a mixture of fresh cheese and ripening cheese

3 tablespoons cream or Greek yogurt

1 shallot or small onion, chopped

fresh marjoram or oregano or thyme (leaves only)

salt, pepper

1 tablespoon butter

Heat the oven at 190°C.

Wash the chanterelles and cut the bigger ones into pieces.

Heat some oil in a pan and at low heat fry the shallot.

When it softens a bit, add the chanterelles and fry at medium heat until they lose their juices.

Add salt, pepper, marjoram leaves and combine with goat cheese (crumbled if it’s hard) and with cream/yogurt.

Divide into 5 equal portions and roll into individual filo sheets.

Brush every sheet with melted butter and bake until golden (about 10 minutes).

32 Replies to “Filo Rolls with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Goat Cheese”

  1. I love chanterelle mushrooms! Fortunately, chanterelles grow in the forests here in Oregon and we can get them rather easily either by hunting them ourselves or at the farmer’s markets. What a great flavor combination with the mushrooms, goat cheese and herbs. Looks great Sissi!

    1. Thank you so much, Tessa. I think chanterelles are among the most international mushroom varieties. You should definitely try them with goat cheese one day.

  2. I’ve never used chanterelles in my cooking but the combination of flaky phyllo and creamy goat cheese and mushroom filling must be delicious.

    1. Thank you, A_Boleyn. I think I have had more chanterelle by kilograms than for example beef, in my life 😉

      1. You must really LOVE mushrooms. 🙂 I don’t eat them very often and other than in beef stroganoff, don’t use too much in my regular cooking. I’m curious why cremini wouldn’t be a good mushroom to use inside the rolls. I always thought that white or button mushrooms were a different species from cremini which grow up to be portobello. My household budget usually restricts me to the less expensive white or sometimes the cremini, and very occasionally shitake or even more rarely, porcini. I’ve had enoki which were quite nice though a bit stringy for my taste.

        1. I am not a big fan of beef and don’t have it very often (apart from ground beef or steak tartare, but the latter really rarely), this is why the comparison probably surprised you 😉
          I grew up in a family where we would eat lots of wild mushrooms in season and my mum would dry or pickle mushrooms in vinegar too. I haven’t been mushroom picking for years (still looking for company…) but I buy wild mushrooms as often as I can while season lasts. They are usually not cheap, but I have found very affordable sources 😉 (For ex. a big shop for restaurant owners).
          No, I don’t LOVE all the mushrooms (though I like mushrooms in general). I can say I love only certain varieties: chanterelle, cèpe (penny bun? in Italian porcino) + any other mushroom from Boletus genus (no idea in English) and also eringi (the only farmed mushroom I can pay a high price for). Cèpes/Porcini are even more expensive than chanterelles here, so it’s a rare treat… (I don’t mention truffles… which are of course amazing…) Button mushrooms/crimini vs these mushrooms are for me like for ex. comparing a whiting (which I do buy and like too!) with skate or wild sea bass… for which I’m crazy. I wouldn’t put button mushrooms in these rolls because I have never tried them with goat cheese and somehow don’t see them taste well together, but maybe I’m wrong? I don’t want to advise their use unless I’m sure it’s worth trying.
          I like farmed button mushrooms a lot too and cook probably in 80 or 9O% of my mushroom meals (button/crimini/portobello are indeed the same mushroom; I once checked it because I was surprised they looked all like what we call here by the same name, but on US/Canadian blogs they bear different names), though it has got nothing to do with wild mushrooms… unless it’s grown in caves (in France there are some producers who grow it in caves, but it’s become very rare). There is also one organic French producer which makes fabulous crimini (but only one… and I feel he’s a rare exception).
          Actually, I prefer to use button/crimini mushrooms rather than shiitake in some Asian recipes because they have more aroma and are easier to cook (in my opinion). For example korokke are much better with button mushrooms. I don’t care much for enoki really, though they make dishes more “genuine”… I wish I could taste matsutake one day! I once saw a program about a Canadian man who picks them in huge amounts every year and sells (afterwards they are exported to Japan). I have never seen them here…

          1. I think your dietary tastes start in childhood though, of course, one adds new items as they’re encountered while aging. Surprisingly my mother NEVER cooked with mushrooms other than a single Christmas attempt at chicken stuffed mushrooms when I was in my 30’s. I think I bought canned mushrooms once many many years ago and was so disgusted by the slimy contents that I pitched the entire can untasted. I found that I liked mushrooms on delivery pizza when I was served it enough that I actually bought a few and put them on my own. Over the years I’ve become more fond of mushrooms but I’ve added them to my diet very sparingly.

            I AM surprised that my mother and dad, who grew up on farms in rural Yugoslavia, where one would expect to be exposed to wild mushrooms, didn’t eat them once we came to Canada.

            1. You are right. I love black pudding and before meeting foreigners I had no idea anyone could be disgusted by it… I grew with black pudding and knew some liked it more, some less, but it was just another sausage…
              Maybe your parents were afraid that mushrooms were different in Canada? Or maybe no one around them did it and they slowly stopped thinking about it as an option… We all change a bit after moving abroad.
              Tinned mushrooms are awful, I agree. Like canned asparagus. Certain things just shouldn’t be canned. Vinegar – pickled mushrooms ob the other hand are a pure delight (for those who like pickles 😉 ).
              Have you ever had button mushrooms raw? As a salad? My husband is particularly fond of raw button mushrooms. I must make a salad and post it one day.

              1. … a correction for the above comment, my mom made chicken ‘liver’ stuffed mushrooms. They were ok, as I recall, but she never made them again.

                You may be right about the disinclination to try mushrooms or even find a place where one could go mushroom picking. By the time they had the free time to do it and understood the language enough … they had probably forgotten all about them. Or maybe, they just weren’t fond of them in the first place.

                I HAVE had raw mushrooms in salads, though not ones I’ve made myself. Kind of bland but ok texturally.

                What do you think of artichokes, canned versus fresh? There seems to be so much wastage involved in getting to the heart and then scooping out the choke etc. It doesn’t seem to be worth trying at all.

                1. I do like canned artichoke! I agree it’s really fussy to prepare them from the scratch. Of course, if fresh ones are well prepared, they taste better than canned ones, but I really like canned artichoke too. I put it in salads and tarts.

  3. The combination of mushrooms and goat cheese is one of my favorites so I know I would love these filo rolls! I don’t buy chanterelles much because they are expensive as the devil here, but I do love the flavor. I can see how they or another wild mushrooms like shiitake are a must. A beautiful “brown” on those rolls!

    1. Thank you so much, MJ. Here local chanterelles are quite expensive too, but I often go to French farmers markets where they are cheaper or I buy imported ones (those from Poland are particularly delicious 😉 ).

  4. It’s interesting that you mention picking mushrooms, here the Health Department recently issued a warning not to pick and eat wild mushrooms (likely due to a rise in emergencies at the hospitals). I adore mushrooms and will definitely keep my eyes open for this beautiful variety.

    1. Thank you, Eva. Now I understand why we get every year chanterelles imported from Canada… (Have never tasted them though ; I buy only from European source). They scare people off picking them and then export 😉 Here, luckily, they treat us like adults. The only warning I regularly hear or read about in different European countries is to pick and eat only the specimens one is 100% sure about. The thing which unfortunately some people need to be reminded of…

        1. I’m glad you agree 🙂 I think most (or maybe all?) governments do it to a certain point… I often realise such a policy is less frequent in Switzerland than in other European countries I know. One of the things I appreciate a lot here.

  5. I knew you’d fall in love with phylo! Once you succeed in making it there is no turning back haha! I love chanterelles or any mushroom for that matter! Delicious rolls my friend!

    1. Thank you so much, Katerina. Phyllo is such a wonderful product… Whenever I see it in a dish on your blog, I want to use it at once. Unfortunately I don’t have your dexterity and my triangles are really not very presentable, hence the rolls 😉

  6. Very nice, Sissi. I would love this as an app, snack, or part of my meal. Though, I think I’d consume so many that I think I’d be too full for anything else..I loooove chanterelles!!

  7. I love chanterelles (but so expensive here!)…they haven’t come into season here yet…but I’m bookmarking this to try out when they do. It looks absolutely delicious!

    1. Thank you so much, Joyti. Here they start quite early; they are expensive like all the wild mushrooms, but throughout the years I managed to find places where they cost less (markets in France or, in my city, a shop for restaurant owners). I hope you will find them at affordable prices.

  8. Every time that my husband and I travel to Europe, I’m always very envious of the all the mushrooms that I encounter in your markets. Chanterelle are almost impossible to find in our rural area but I do love them. Your filo rolls with the chanterelle and goat cheese look wonderful.

    1. Thank you so much, Karen. I thought chanterelles grew in most US forests… You will probably travel soon to Europe anyway and have a chance, hopefully, to eat them again.

  9. Sissi, these rolls look so pretty, delicate and elegant…I love the chanterelle and the goat cheese filling…gorgeous photos.
    Hope you are enjoying your week 😀

  10. Ooh, chanterelle, how delightful. I don’t remember the last time I had chanterelle but I think I’m ready to enjoy it again 😉 — I have come across vendors both at our local market and in SF who specialize in wild/exotic mushrooms, you’ve just given me a good reason to investigate further. Love the combination here with goat cheese all tucked in a neat filo package… oh my, what a heavenly sounding bite. I bet the fresh herbs really add here as well — thyme sounds especially delicious to me. Such a delicate, unique combination of flavors Sissi – you must have had no problem savoring these little bundles!

    1. Hi, Kelly. Thank you so much for the compliments. Strangely, the best herb you can add here is fresh marjoram (!). I was surprised at the beginning too, but even thyme doesn’t suit it so perfectly…
      I’m glad you can get wild mushrooms at your market. Mushrooms are such a delicious healthy source of protein! (At least this is how I have always considered them…).

  11. Ohhh I love that mushrooms! I actually had to google to make sure that’s the mushroom that I thin it is. =P And yes, it’s the one. This and goat cheese. Ok something I have to try to see how it is. I love anything in filo so I’ll definitely enjoy this for sure! Great appetizer or snack! 🙂

    1. Thank you so much, Nami. Chanterelles are so subtle and delicious! They used to be my favourite when I was a child. Now I like some other mushrooms at the same level too, but they still bring childhood memories…

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