Cooking up cozy homemade recipes for every occasion, straight from the heart of our home (our kitchen!)

Tag: rolls

Puff Pastry Spirals

Puff Pastry Spirals

These are such a great appetizer for guests. Quick and easy to make, but a classy and delicious appetizer to kick off a great dinner. We used phyllo dough bought from the store, but always try to mix it up and come up with creative fillers. Cheese melts great and all sorts of chopped and roasted vegetables are great to add too. The night we made them, we tried one with sun-dried tomatoes and the other with a mixture of artichokes & mushrooms (both versions below). The only hint I’d give is to make sure you really roll them tight. You’ll see from the photos that I failed in this department and there’s a few pockets in my pre-baked spirals. After baking, the phyllo fluffs up enough to hide this technical error, but it taught me to roll tighter next time!
Sun-dried tomato & basil:
Artichoke, Mushroom & Cheddar:
Should have rolled this tighter, but you get the idea!

Sun-Dried Tomato Puff Pastry Spirals

November 17, 2017
: 8
: 40 min
: 20 min
: 1 hr

A great appetizer for dinner parties. Elegant looking but super easy to make! Why buy these pre-made when you can make them yourself?!

By:

Ingredients
  • 1 sheet of puff pastry dough (I bought a pack of 2)
  • 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained from olive oil and chopped
  • Fresh basil leaves, torn up
  • 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
Directions
  • Step 1 If your puff pastry is frozen, allow to defrost for the appropriate time. Roll out the pastry thinly into a large rectangle using a rolling pin.
  • Step 2 Spread the chopped sun-dried tomatoes evenly over the pastry, leaving a small gap around all of the edges. Then scatter the Parmesan and fresh basil leaves on top of the tomatoes.
  • Step 3 Brush one of the long ends with a little beaten egg, and begin rolling the pastry up from the opposite side, as tightly as possible.
  • Step 4 Place the roll on a plate and put it in the fridge for about half an hour, chilling the roll makes it easier to cut. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Step 5 After chilling, brush the roll with beaten egg and with a sharp knife, cut it into slices that are 1cm wide. Lightly grease a baking tray and then put each spiral on the tray, spacing them apart evenly. Brush the pastry with a little more beaten egg.
  • Step 6 Bake in a preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes, until they puff up and start to turn golden brown. Serve warm.

Artichoke Mushroom & Cheddar Puff Pastry Spirals

November 17, 2017
: 8
: 40 min
: 20 min
: 1 hr

A great appetizer for dinner parties. Elegant looking but super easy to make! Why buy these pre-made when you can make them yourself?!

By:

Ingredients
  • 1 sheet of puff pastry dough (I bought a pack of 2)
  • 1 cup fresh grated cheddar cheese (*we used the parmesan cheddar block from Trader Joes!)
  • 1 cup quartered artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup sautéed mushrooms, coarsely chopped
  • 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
Directions
  • Step 1 If your puff pastry is frozen, allow to defrost for the appropriate time. Roll out the pastry thinly into a large rectangle, using a rolling pin.
  • Step 2 Spread the artichokes and mushrooms evenly over the pastry, leaving a small gap around all of the edges. Then scatter the cheddar on top.
  • Step 3 Brush one of the long ends with a little beaten egg, and begin rolling the pastry up from the opposite side, as tightly as possible.
  • Step 4 Place the roll on a plate and put it in the fridge for about half an hour, chilling the roll makes it easier to cut. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Step 5 After chilling, brush the roll with beaten egg and with a sharp knife, cut it into slices that are 1cm wide. Lightly grease a baking tray and then put each spiral on the tray, spacing them apart evenly. Brush the pastry with a little more beaten egg.
  • Step 6 Bake in a preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes, until they puff up and start to turn golden brown. Serve warm.
At this point it is also worth mentioning our “sous chef” in the kitchen (nope, not the baby!). We bought some small gadgets to help us keep track of time, but for not too much more you can get a small Amazon Echo, so Alexa becomes your helper. She is great for keeping track of time (just say: “Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes” and see what happens!), but also for figuring out conversions or substitutions when you don’t have all the ingredients you need- or simply for playing some fun music while you cook!  Whenever we’re entertaining and I’m cooking up multiple dishes at once, I rely on Alexa to keep me organized and set multiple timers (I can’t do that on my one hand-held timer!).