Fall Harvest Spring Roll Appetizer
Surprise and delight your guests with the unexpected: fall harvest fruit in a savory spring roll. These make ahead appetizers pack a lot of flavor into each bite and won’t leave fingers greasy. An appetizer that simplifies planning and clean up? A real win in my entertaining repertoire.
While guests arrive, I almost always have a platter of spring rolls at the ready. Guests can enjoy a light bite and get to know one another and I don’t have to rush to get the first course onto the table. I take the spring rolls out of the refrigerator at the same time I remove the La Crema Monterey Pinot Gris, twenty minutes before guests are scheduled to appear. With its notes of asian pear, spice, and ripe apricot, the La Crema Monterey Pinot Gris pairs perfectly with fall harvest fruits like apples and pluots.
There’s only two secrets to crafting a beautiful platter of spring rolls. The first secret is to place wax paper between layers so that the spring rolls don’t stick to each other. And the second secret is to remember that the ingredient you place on top of your vermicelli noodles and apples will be the top of your spring roll.
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These simple-to-prepare, make-a-head, Fall Harvest Spring Rolls take the stress out of entertaining.
When rolling your Fall Harvest Spring Rolls be sure that each ingredient is every bite. You want to balance the tartness of the Granny Smith apple with the earthiness of the crimini mushrooms and the sweetness of the Fuji apple, pluots, and balsamic vinegar.
Fall Harvest Pluot, Apple and Mushroom Spring Roll
Author: Eden Hensley
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Asian Fusion
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12-16
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound of Crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 2 Tablespoons Soy sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper, freshly ground to taste
- 1 package of rice vermicelli noodles
- 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
- 1 medium Onion, sliced
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 3 plums or Pluots, sliced
- 2 limes squeezed for their juice to keep apples from turning brown
- 1 Fuji apple, julienned
- 1 Granny smith apple, julienned
- 2 packages small spring roll wrappers or rice paper
- 4 to 6 cayenne peppers, seeded and diced for garnish
Instructions
- Boil a medium pot of water.
- In the meantime, toss sliced mushrooms into a plastic storage bag. Close the top of the bag and shake to coat. Put in the refrigerator and leave to marinate overnight (if running short on time, be sure to marinate mushrooms at least twenty minutes).
- When the water boils, put the package of rice vermicelli noodles into the water for eight minutes to rehydrate. Turn off the heat and let the noodles soak in the pot for an additional three minutes. Strain and rinse with cold water. Let air dry for at least an hour before beginning to assemble your spring rolls.
- Warm a large saute pan or wok over medium heat. When heated, add a Tablespoon of vegetable oil.
- When the oil is hot, starts to shimmer, add the onions.
- Add the garlic when the onions just begin to soften.
- When you can smell the garlic, add your mushrooms. Be careful not pour the marinade into the hot pan. Reserve the marinade for dipping.
- When the mushrooms have let go most of their moisture, add your pluots and optional cayenne pepper.
- Saute pluot, mushroom, and onion mixture until pluots are soft to the touch. Remove from the heat and set aside. Let cool to room temperature.
- Get your work space ready to put together your spring rolls. Arrange ingredients in the order in which you’ll put them into your roll. Pour water into a pan or baking dish that is large enough to hold your rice paper.
- Place your sheet of rice paper into the water. Let it sit for about five to ten seconds or until soft. Make sure the paper is softening evenly.
- When soft, gently lift your paper and shake off the excess water.
- Lay your paper down on a non-stick surface.
- Assemble your roll. For one roll, you’ll need: For one roll: 1 sheet rice paper; 2 ounces vermicelli noodles, cooked; 2 slices Fuji apple; 2 slices Granny Smith apple; 2 slices sauteed pluot (or plum);
- slice sauteed onion; a pinch of Cayenne pepper, minced (optional); and 2 to 4 slices mushroom depending on size.
- Place the vermicelli and apple about a fourth of the way down from the top of the rice paper. If you are preparing your spring rolls so that some have cayenne peppers and others don’t, place two slices of pluot and cayenne pepper on top of the apple. When you prepare the spring rolls that don’t have the peppers, place two to four slices of mushroom on top of the apple.
- Fold the top of the paper down so that the filling is covered. Press the edges of the paper to the left and right of the vermicelli together so that filling doesn’t fall apart.
- Fold the sides of the paper in towards the middle.
- Place either two to four slices of mushroom on your roll if you’ve already placed your pluots, or place two slices of pluots if you already placed your mushrooms.
- Finish rolling it up.
- Place on platter and set aside. Be sure to place wax paper in between layers of spring rolls to ensure they don’t stick together.
- Spring rolls can be made up to a day ahead and stored in air-tight containers in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve them.
Each spring roll should be easy to consume in two to three bites. If stuffed with ingredients, cut in half diagonally, to make eating while socializing easier.
Fall Harvest Spring Rolls can be served without a dipping sauce; the marinated mushrooms and sauteed pluots are very juicy and flavorful. A dipping sauce can be made by blending the reserved marinade with juices from your sauteed fruit and mushrooms or mixing 2 parts Soy Sauce with 3 parts each of Balsamic Vinegar and Vegetable Oil. Add the oil slowly until the mixture emulsifies, you may not need much oil.
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