Mushroom Madeira in Phyllo Purses

Preparation time is 40 minutes, cooking time 30 minutes

Makes 8 Bundles

Ingredients

Sauce

• ½ cup Madeira – (125ml)
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots – (30ml)
• 2 cups beef stock – (500ml)
• 1 ½ cups whipping cream – (375ml)

Purses

• 1 ½ pounds hot Italian sausage, casing removed – (750grams)
• ¼ cup unsalted butter – (60ml)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil – (30ml)
• 1 ½ pounds porcini mushrooms – (750grams)
• ¼ cup minced shallots – (60ml)
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage – (15ml)
• 1 cup cream cheese, at room temperature – (8oz)
• 1 cup ricotta cheese – (8oz)
• 16 Phyllo pastry sheets
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted – (175ml)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Sauce: Pour Madeira into a sauce pan with shallots.  Bring to a boil and reduce until liquid is all most gone approximately 5 minutes. . Add beef stock and reduce again by half. Add cream and bring to a boil again to reduce to a thicker consistency. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Phyllo purses: Crumble sausage meat in a large skillet and cook until meet is longer pink.  Spoon cooked sausage into a bowl and drain off the fat.
4. Add olive oil and butter to the now empty sausage skillet. Tear and add porcini mushrooms to the skillet and add shallots.  Add sage to the skillet and continue to cook until the mushrooms have absorbed all the liquid in the skillet.  Add mushroom mixture to sausage and cool completely.
5. Combine ricotta and cream cheese to cooled sausage.
6. Place 2 sheets of Phyllo paper onto working surface and cover remainder with a damp towel. Cut off a strip to make a square. Brush square with melted butter and add a dollop of the mushrooms mix to the middle of the square.
7. Gently pull up the sides to form a loose purse. Twist the top and wrap the strip around to make a loose knot around the purse and brush with butter.
8. Place purse bundles onto a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.
9. Bring cooled sauce to a simmer and spoon onto individual serving plates and top with baked mushroom purses.
10. Serve and enjoy!