Thursday, September 8, 2011

My Go-To Fall Appetizers (round 2)

My second go-to appetizer includes....wait for it....Puff Pastry Sheets!  Imagine that.  You should just go ahead and stock up on a few boxes of these amazing things!  (No, Pepperidge Farm is not paying me to say this.)  I just think they are so easy to work with and you can make so many different recipes that are delish, but really don't require that much preparation!  Genius!!  This recipe actually called for 15 phyllo sheets.  I'm sure the phyllo sheets are wonderful too, but who has the time to layer each sheet and brush them with butter and then add another sheet and on and on....not me!  

Now back to the recipe...this is a great one to make on a day when you have time and then wrap them up and throw them in the freezer.  Then you already have an appetizer made for whenever you need it! 


Make-Ahead Spinach Pastry Roll-Ups
  • 3 thawed Puff Pastry Sheets (1 1/2 boxes, since 2 sheets come in a box)
  • flour, enough for a light dusting
  • 1 egg
  • 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
  • 1 cup crumbled Feta cheese
  • 1 tub (8 oz) flavored Cream Cheese, such as garden vegetable or spinach and artichoke
  • 4 green onions, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted (or you could use cooking spray instead if you prefer)
Mix together the spinach, egg, feta, cream cheese and onions until well blended.  Set aside.   Lightly dust flour over a flat surface. (I usually lay down wax paper and dust flour over the wax paper.)  Spread thawed out pastry sheet over the floured surface.  Spread 1/3 of the spinach mixture along 1 long side of the pastry sheet and roll it up into a log.  Brush the ends with butter to seal.  Brush butter lightly over the entire outsides of the log. Make small cuts along the top of the log at about 1-inch intervals.  Wrap log tightly in plastic wrap and place in freezer.  Repeat two more times with remaining two puff pastry sheets.

The spinach roll-ups can freeze up to 3 months.  Whenever you are ready to use, remove however many logs you want to use from the freezer to thaw for several hours or place them in the refrigerator (still wrapped) to thaw overnight.  When ready to bake, unwrap and place on a cooking sheet.  Bake in the oven at 375* for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool for about 5 minutes.  Cut logs into pieces as show in the picture above and serve!!  

My friends LOVE these and always eat them very quickly!!

Tara

6 comments:

  1. Yum! Great tip about using the pastry sheets instead of phyllo...so time consuming.

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  2. Is there anything puff pastry isn't good for:) I mean it is like a cooks best friend especially in a time crunch. I love these pastry wheels and the filling sounds amazing. Stashing this recipe away for a rainy day

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  3. Oh my, this sounds fabulous and love the ingredients! Making it ahead is perfect for the hectic holidays.
    Thrilled!!!!
    XO,
    Lulu

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  4. These just look incredibly yummy!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!

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  5. Ohhh yum! Definitely want to try this!! Puff pastry is one of my favorites! Thanks so much for linking up today! :)

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  6. This is a nice appetizer. The only problem is I don't think I would share it. I love all the ingredients you used for this recipe. You can't go wrong with this. I will mak this very soon. Thanks for sharing. Great blog.

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