Painted Portobellos in Puff Pastry

1. Preheat oven to the puff pastry brand's recommended temperature (or 425°F).

2. Beat egg lightly with 1 Tbsp. of water to create an egg wash.

3. Roll out a puff pastry square on a floured surface, large enough so that the ends can be easily folded up over a mushroom cap. (Since portobellos vary in size, you may have to roll out the puff pastry to different sizes. Avoid rolling thinner than 1/8", so you don't crush the butter layers.)

4. Paint the portobello caps and gills liberally** with the puréed chipotle, and place cap down on the puff pastry.***

5. Fold the puff pastry ends up so they meet and complete enclose the mushroom cap.

6. Turn the pastry over and place on a lined baking sheet.

7. Brush each pastry with egg wash. Optionally, cut a decorative design into the pastry.

8. Place in oven and bake at the pastry brand's recommended temperature (or 425°F) until pastry is golden.

** Chipotle peppers are dried, smoked red jalapeño chiles. They are usually sold canned in a tangy tomato-and-vinegar adobo sauce, most commonly pureed. Thus, the sauce will have a mild to medium heat. Since you'll be "painting" the mushrooms (not putting normal jalapeños in the pastry), you can adjust amount of sauce to taste.

*** Revision: Newer food safety guidelines recommend avoiding undercooked mushrooms. To address this, either first gently sauté the caps until they soften, or roast the painted caps at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow the caps to cool before placing them on the rolled out dough (so they don't melt the fat in the dough). Depending on your puff pastry brand and oven, precooking the mushrooms (and thus evaporating excess moisture) may also help to make your pastry more crisp and flaky.