The Charms Of Puff Pastry
You can’t blame girl for succumbing to
the charms of puff pastry – rich, buttery layers of pure indulgence. And, with
it available ready-made, it’s as easy to use as it is to eat
Baked Mozzarella With Chilli Puff-Pastry Dippers
It's really worth letting this tomato
sauce simmer for two or three hours - the flavors develop beautifully. Enjoy
this dish for lunch or bring it out when friends pop round for a beer.
Serves 4
Preparation: 20 minutes, plus thawing time
Cooking: 2 hours
Baked
Mozzarella With Chilli Puff-Pastry Dippers
·
Onion 1, finely chopped
·
Olive oil 4 T
·
Garlic 4 cloves, crushed
·
Fresh chilli 1, chopped
·
Cherry tomatoes 2 x 400 g cans
·
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to
taste
·
Sugar 2t
·
Fresh basil ½ cup
·
Red wine vinegar 2t
·
Frozen all-butter puff pastry 1 x 500 g packet,
thawed
·
Free-range egg 1, beaten
·
Buffalo mozzarella or bocconcini 400 g, drained
·
Prosciutto 4 slices
·
Dried chilli flakes 2 T
·
Sea salt 3 T
1.
Preheat the oven to 180*C. Gently fry the onion
in 3 T olive oil over a low heat until soft. Add the garlic and chilli and fry
for a further 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, season to taste and stir. Simmer for
45 minutes.
2.
Add the sugar and 14 cup basil. Simmer for a
further 45 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the red wine vinegar and
check the seasoning.
3.
Carefully slice the pastry into long rectangles
and arrange on 2 or 3 baking trays lined with baking paper, leaving space
between each slice of pastry. Brush with egg and bake for 20 to 25 minutes
until golden and puffed up.
4.
Crush the chilli flakes with the sea salt to
combine. Lightly brush each pastry dipper with a little of the remaining olive
oil, sprinkle with the chilli salt and cool. Divide the tomato sauce between
four small bowls, top with equal amounts of mozzarella and bake until the
mozzarella starts to bubble. Place the prosciutto on a separate baking tray and
crisp in the oven. Place on top of the tomato sauce and mozzarella.
5. Garnish with the remaining basil and serve with the pastry dippers.
Wine: Bon Courage White Muscadel 2011
Salted Banana Toffee Millefeuille
This is my take on banoffee pie. I can't
fault the original recipe, but this is just so much more fun to bring out to a
table of friends! It's a bit of a tricky one to eat and, after the first bite,
everyone's lips are powdered with icing sugar, which adds to the laughs.
Serves 8
Preparation: 30 minutes, plus thawing time
Baking: 1½ hours
·
Frozen all-butter puff pastry 2 x 500 g packets,
thawed
·
Free-range egg white 1, beaten
·
Sugar 200g
·
Bananas 3, sliced
·
Milk ½ cup
·
Sea salt, to taste
·
Cream 2 cups
·
Icing sugar, for dusting
·
White chocolate shavings, to decorate
Salted
Banana Toffee Millefeuille
1.
Preheat the oven to 180*C. Working with 1 packet
of pastry at a time (leave the other in the fridge until ready to use),
carefully cut out a 20 cm circle. Repeat with the other packet of pastry.
Reserve the offcuts from the pastry and return to the fridge. Place the pastry
circles on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush the surface with egg
white. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until flaky and golden, carefully remove and
set aside to cool. Combine the pastry offcuts and roll out as thick as possible
and cut out another circle. Bake until golden. Set aside all three pastry discs
and allow to cool.
2.
Melt the sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat.
Once dissolved, blend the bananas with the milk and add to the sugar, a little
at a time, stirring continuously to combine. Cook over a medium to low heat
until the mixture turns pale toffee in color and is smooth. Add sea salt to
taste.
3.
Remove the banana toffee from the heat and cool.
To serve, whip the cream and sandwich the pastry with the banana-toffee mixture
and whipped cream. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with chocolate shavings.
WINE: Nederburg Winemaster's Reserve Special Late Harvest 2011
Tips For Working With Puff Pastry
Brushing pastry with beaten egg gives it a
golden, shiny crust. Be careful not to get any egg on the sides of the pastry
as the layers will stick together and prevent the pastry from puffing evenly.
Thaw frozen puff pastry before using - it
should be cold but shouldn't crack when unrolled. Note that it’s important to
work with cold pastry so that the layers rise instantly when they come into
contact with the heat of the oven.
Take care not to overwork puff pastry as
this will warm it and hinder rising.
Don't reuse puff pastry once you've rolled
it - the layers will be damaged. Instead, use offcuts to make shapes with which
to to decorate desserts or to dip in chocolate and dust with icing sugar.
