Pea roulade with bacon and spinach filling

Babiche Martens

The colour of the roulade will keep your visitors guessing. I have used a bacon and spinach filling, which is always tasty. Try to eat the dish warm, but cool it's still delicious. The roulade can be made ahead of time and reheated, if necessary, covered with tinfoil to ensure it doesn't dry out. You can substitute your choice of fillings - mushrooms, salmon, vegetables - if you prefer.

Pea puree

1 Tbsp	Butter
½	Onions, chopped roughly
2 ½ cups	Frozen peas (Main)
¼ cup	Fresh parsley, chopped
½ tsp	Salt

Roulade

60 g	Butter
3 Tbsp	Flour
1 cup	Milk
1 cup	Puree, use pea puree recipe above
3	Eggs, separated

Filling

1 dash	Oil
4 rashers	Bacon
2	Spring onions, sliced
1 Tbsp	Mayonnaise
½ cup	Sour cream
1 cup	Spinach, or rocket, shredded
⅓ cup	Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

1. Line a Swiss roll tin with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. To make the pea puree, in a pot melt the butter, add the onion and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the peas, parsley and salt. Cover with boiling water and bring to the boil for 4 minutes until the peas are softened. Strain, reserving the liquid. Place the peas and onions into a blender and whizz until smooth. You may need to add a little of the strained liquid. Sieve peas to create a smooth puree.
3. To make the roulade, heat the butter in a pot. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes without browning. Slowly add the milk and stir to make a smooth thick sauce. Add the pea puree and season with salt and pepper. Stir the egg yolks into the sauce.
4. Whisk the egg whites until thick. Take a little sauce and fold through the white, then gently fold through the remaining sauce mixture. Pour straight into the lined tin. Bake for 15 minutes until set in the middle. Remove from the oven and cool.
5. To make the filling, heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook the bacon until crispy. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Fold through the spring onion, sour cream, mayonnaise, spinach and parmesan.
6. Turn the roulade out on to a clean piece of baking paper. Spread the filling over the roulade and roll up from the long side, using the baking paper.
7. Serve immediately, or you can reheat for 10 minutes, covered. Serve with a salad.