I love Puff Pastry. I have no desire to make it myself, that seems like a lot of work, and I don't really enjoy baking, but I do love to use the pre-made stuff! Here is one of my favorite desserts to make when I'm looking to impress someone (who doesn't love to be the hit of a dinner party?!) or when I just want to make something I KNOW is good.
I call it...Puff Pastry with Balsamic Strawberries, Mint and Cream Cheese. Clever, I know.
Here's what you'll need:
*Puff Pastry sheets, thawed. The number of sheets you'll need is directly dependent on how many people you're looking to feed. One sheet makes around 6 little treats, depending on how large you cut them. You'll want to cut them into an even amount of squares, because you need "tops" and "bottoms", 2x2 inches is a great size for your mouth.
*Chopped fresh strawberries, these don't need to be pretty
*Balsamic Vinegar
*Sugar
*Fresh Mint
*Cream Cheese
Here's what you do:
Put the chopped strawberries in a bowl with a little bit of sugar and enough balsamic vinegar to make a nice little marinade. Stir this together and put in the fridge for as long as you can. The longer it sits, the better it will taste.
When you're ready, preheat the oven to 375, or whatever the package says on the Puff Pastry.
On a baking sheet, lay out half of your squares. You should probably put down parchment paper or put cooking spray on the baking sheet, whatever you like to do to keep things from sticking.
On each square put a small dollop of cream cheese, a small amount of the strawberry mixture, and one mint leaf.
Cover with the "top" square and pinch together all of the edges to seal in the goodness.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or however long the pastry package tells you to, take them out when they're nice and golden and puffy.
Enjoy!
For a tasty little appetizer I like to fill one square with a couple dried cranberries and feta cheese, yum! Or how about brie, honey and chopped walnuts?! The possibilities are endless really.
No comments:
Post a Comment