Knish Recipe with Root Vegetable Mash
This knish recipe is a delicious root vegetable mash, wrapped and baked in a golden flaky puff pastry (store-bought). Melt-in-your-mouth and really easy. A great make ahead side dish or appetizer.
Servings (change as needed): 34 pieces approximately
Ingredients
For Root vegetable mash
- 2 pounds root vegetables Note 1 (this will make a bit more than you need)
- 2 tablespoon butter (or neutral oil) use 3 tbsp butter for extra richness)
- 2 tablespoon -3 milk or cream (optional)
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- salt and black pepper
For knish assembly
- 1 package puff pastry dough (2 sheets), defrosted if frozen about 14-17 ounces pastry dough in total
- 3 1/2 cups root vegetable mash (made with ingredients above) cold leftovers is fine
- 1 egg plus one tablespoon water, mixed (for egg wash)
Instructions
- HEAT OVEN to 375F/190C.
- MAKE ROOT VEGETABLE FILLING: (can be done 2-3 days ahead)°Prep and boil: Cut veggies into roughly the same size - about 1 - 1 1/2 inches (3-4 cm). If using carrots, slice them thinner as they take longer to cook. Place in a large pot and add water to cover by 1 inch/2.5 cm. Add 2 tsp salt. Bring to boil. Lower to medium heat and gently boil for 15-18 minutes or until soft and easily pierced with a fork. Drain vegetables in a colander and return to the pot. °Mash: On medium heat, shake cooked vegetables to dry them out for 1 minute. Add green onions, butter and milk/cream. Mash with a fork or potato masher to get the consistency you like. Do not use a food processor or immersion blender to mash veggies. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Set aside or store in fridge until ready to make knishes.
- ASSEMBLE KNISHES: On a lightly floured cutting board, unroll one sheet of dough. It should be about 1/8-1/4 inch (3-6 mm) thick. Stretch it out a bit to make a large rectangle. Spread a log of vegetable mash mixture along the longer side of the rectangle - about 2 inches thick. Roll dough over the vegetable mixture about 1 and 1/2 times, making a log/roll. Cut away rest of dough for the next roll. Pinch seams together well (dip your fingertips in a little water if needed). Repeat with other half of dough on that sheet. Then do the same with the second sheet of dough. You will have 4 logs/rolls in total.
- BAKE: Place filled knish rolls - 2 inches/5 cm apart - on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, seam side down. Brush egg wash on rolls to create a glazed golden look. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and flaky. Cut rolls into 2 inch/5 cm pieces on the diagonal and serve. Or see Note 4 for make ahead options.
Notes
- Root Vegetables options: Use two or more – white potatoes (I like Yukon/yellow potatoes best), sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, rutabaga (swede), celery root (celeriac). If you don't have a scale, don't worry. Leftovers are great. I use two white potatoes, 1 medium sweet potato, 2 medium carrots, 2 parsnips and 1 celeriac (or large turnip).
- Variations and substitutes for root vegetable mash:
- Lower calorie version: Reduce the butter and eliminate the cream or milk (or replace it with low fat Greek yogurt or broth)
- Dairy free version: Substitute the butter with olive oil and the cream with broth.
- Add ins: Try adding grated cheese, caramelized onions, caramelized leeks and/or chopped fresh chives.
- Seasonings: Add a teaspoon of dried thyme or dill if you like. Or use a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh herbs.
- Other variations:
- Try a different filling: Instead of root vegetable mash or mashed potatoes with fried onions, try creamed spinach, mushroom and onion, or ground beef and potatoes.
- Make your own dough: If you want to get more traditional, here's a well-reviewed knish recipe with homemade dough from Food52.
- Make Ahead options:
- Make the root vegetable mash 2-3 days ahead. Keep it in a large bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Freeze the unbaked knish rolls up to 2 months ahead in logs, unbaked, wrapped well in parchment and ziploc bags or foil. Bake as per instructions whenever you need them (no need to defrost).
- Bake the knishes a couple of hours before you need them including cutting them into serving pieces. Keep them on the counter. Reheat them in the pan in a pre-heated 350F/177C oven for 6-8 minutes. (I do this all the time - extra crispy/flaky - and highly recommend it.)
- Leftovers: The best part of this recipe is that leftovers are great! For leftover knishes, store them in an airtight container in a single layer, in the fridge for up to a couple of days. Reheat them, tented with tin foil, at 350°F (177°C) for about 10-15 minutes or until they're heated through and crispy.
Calories: 106kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 45mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 28IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg