10. Puff pastry is divine!
I found a recipe for "Savory Pumpkin Puffs" in a Martha Stewart Living Magazine several years ago. It went into my "need to try" pile of recipes. So this year was a perfect time to try it. Although I love working with puff pastry, I encouraged my daughter to make this recipe so she could experience the "divinity factor".
We set the dough out at room temperature and prepared each ingredient and she began the assembly process.
Savory Pumpkin Puffs
Makes 18-24
parchment paper
flour for dusting paper
1 pkg puff pastry, room temp
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 Tblsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups finely grated Gruyere Cheese
1 cup finely gated Parmesan Cheese
freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously flour 2 pieces of parchment paper; on each, roll out an unfolded pastry sheet to form a 15 x 13" rectangle, about 1/16th inch thick. Refrigerate until firm about 15 min. Meanwhile, stir the paprika into the melted butter and whisk together. Remove pastry and brush off excess flour. Spread a rectangle of pastry with mustard; sprinkle with both cheeses. Season with pepper.
Lay the second pastry rectangle on top covering the cheese. Lay the parchment paper on top of the stacked pastry; using a rolling pin, roll until smooth and pastry layers are sealed together. Remove the parchment and brush the top of the pastry with paprika/butter mixture. Chill until firm, about 30 min.
With a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter, cut 18-24 shapes.
Immediately place the shapes on parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, score each shape four or five times to make pumpkin ridges.
If you forget to brush the top of the dough before it is cut.. brushing them after cut works out fine.)
Bake until golden, 15-20 min. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
Aren't they lovely? Divine, right?
So after they were finished and we all were munching on the finished product...we came up with a variety of options for this recipe:
Why not a sweet version...jam or fruit filling in the middle, any flavor would do, and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. Or...Mexican with taco flavored meat and cheddar cheese and cut them in triangles...
You get the picture...whatever your mind can think up...you can try with puff pastry.
Try this one...you will be delighted and so will your guests!
