We went to a party on New Years Eve and I said I would bring a few appetizers. I was going to make those awesome risotto cakes again but I just did not have the time to make them. I decided to take some help from the supermarket and bought a package of puff pastry (which always comes in handy when youre in a fix) and a tube of pillsbury pizza dough. Forget that its pizza dough because it doesnt taste anything like pizza dough, it has a lot of butter in it but it works well as a base for an appetizer.
So I made puff pastry pinwheels and a caramalized onion, mozzarella and kalamata olive flatbread. They both came out great and were a big hit! I used the recipe on the box of the puff pastry as a guide to making the pinwheels and just changed some things around. Here is the original recipe for what they call Spinach Cheese Swirls. Here is my recipe.
Spinach Pinwheels
Ingredients:
1 box of puff pastry (two sheets), defrosted
1 egg and 1 tbsp of water, beaten
6 oz of shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup grated romano cheese
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 10 oz box of frozen spinach, defrosted and drained well. (Squeeze all the water out of the spinach or it will make the pastry soggy.)
Directions:
1. Saute onion and garlic in oil until onions are tender and translucent. Add spinach and stir to combine. Let cool.
2. Add cheeses to spinach mixture, taste and season with salt and pepper accordingly.
3. Lay out one sheet of puff pastry on a flat surface that has been dusted with flour.
4. Spread half of the mixture onto the dough.
5. Roll puff pastry jelly roll style and slice into 1/2 inch slices. You may want to cut off the ends if they are uneven.
6. Lay slices out onto a parchment lined baking sheet and brush tops with egg wash.
7. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until golden.
Caramelized Onion, Mozzarella and Kalamata Flatbread
Ingredients:
1 tube of Pillsbury refrigerated thin style pizza dough
1 large onion, sliced
1 package diced pancetta
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Approx 1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced in half
6 oz. shredded mozzarella
5 leaves basil, torn.
Directions:
1. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange dough to fit into pan.
2. Saute pancetta in 1 tbsp olive oil until crispy. Remove and set aside.
3. Saute onions pancetta drippings and 1 more tablespoon of oil on low heat until they become very tender and sweet, about 15 minutes. Do not let them brown. Let cool.
4. Top dough with pancetta, onions, olives, mozzarella and basil.
5. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling.
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Yesterday, I spent the afternoon baking. It started off with my Christmas Cake, which is an old favourite recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine, I have the cutting from the magazine from 1998 and again in 2002 - its the same recipe and thankfully is also still on the website, so I dont have to type it all out for you! Its the Simmer and Stir Christmas Cake and it is just so easy. Last year I made the Nigella chocolate Christmas Cake, which was really lovely but decided to go back to my old favourite this year.
Finally, I had to do something with the apples that had been lurking about in a basket for a couple of weeks. My MIL had got them from her friend and some were beginning to get past their best. I made some apple pickle, which I will blog later when I have put it in jars, and then made the rest of the apples into a crumble (cheating with a ready made crumble mix) which I have put in the freezer. I also froze the Banana Loaf, cut into slices, as we would never get through all that.
