Anni's minced meat crocodile

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 2 packs of puff pastry
• 500 g minced meat
• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 small can of mushrooms, sliced
• 1 class can/n tomatoes (pizza)
• 1 pack of spinach (small pack)
• 1 pack of feta cheese, cut into small cubes
• some salt
• some pepper
• some nutmeg
• some paprika powder
• some herbs, mixed, frozen or fresh
• some milk
• 1 egg yolk

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours

A feast for the eyes – not just for Halloween

Thaw the spinach in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop. Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic cloves. Brown the ground beef, onions, and garlic in a pan until crumbly. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, paprika, and herbs. You can brown the pizza tomatoes and mushrooms either together with the ground beef or separately. Make sure the ground beef, tomato, and mushroom mixture isn’t too moist at the end, otherwise the puff pastry won’t stick together well and the crocodile might “leak.” Roll out a roll of puff pastry. This will serve as the base, or rather, the crocodile’s belly. Place the puff pastry directly onto the baking sheet on parchment paper. Pour the ground beef, tomato, and mushroom mixture onto the puff pastry, placing a larger amount in the center—this will be the crocodile’s belly. The head should have slightly less filling. The crocodile tail should ideally be thin and curved with the filling. Spread the feta over the minced meat mixture and then add the spinach. The feta can, of course, also be placed over the minced meat mixture in the shape of a spine and ribs. Now, use a knife to trim the edge of the puff pastry about 2 cm from the filling. Save this puff pastry! Now fold the edge upwards. Unroll the second roll of puff pastry and place it over the pre-formed crocodile. Use a knife to cut generously along the contours of the crocodile again. Glue the two layers of puff pastry together. I do this by carefully smoothing the edges together with a fork. The filled puff pastry “tube” can now be shaped even more “crocodile-like.” Form four legs from the remaining puff pastry, optionally filling them with cheese or spinach, and stick them onto the crocodile. The claws can be shaped with a fork. Brush the crocodile with a little milk and cut scales from the remaining puff pastry and spread them on the crocodile. It’s best to start with the tail, so the scales will overlap nicely. For the eyes, you can use feta cubes, cover them with puff pastry, and press them onto the head. I used peppercorns for the pupils, but you could also use cloves, etc. Finally, whisk the egg yolk with a splash of milk, brush the crocodile with it, and bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for about 20-30 minutes. Tip: If you add a little green food coloring to the egg yolk and milk mixture, the crocodile will look green.