John Myers
Puff pastry is very versatile in the kitchen. If you buy it ready-made, it will help you prepare both savory and sweet dishes in no time. Puff pastry is usually chilled and rolled up or frozen and portioned into slices. The rolled puff pastry is ready to use. Let the individual slices thaw for a few minutes and then use the puff pastry as you like. However, you must no longer knead or roll out the finished puff pastry, as this will destroy the dough structure and the puff pastry will no longer rise properly in the oven. If you avoid animal products in your diet, you can use our recipe to prepare your own vegan puff pastry.
Probably the simplest way of preparation are simply filled puff pastry pockets. The frozen plates are best suited for this. Cut these into squares and fill them with either sweet or savory fillings. Jam or chocolate cream are very simple but effective fillings for sweet pockets. For example, we use quark and cream cheese for our sweet puff pastry pockets with grilled berries: a great dessert tip for the barbecue season! Flavorful cheeses like feta or goat cheese combined with some spices are possible fillings for savory pockets. Sausage and ham or minced meat are also good. Fold the corners of the squares together and press the dough together firmly so that the pocket does not rise in the oven. If you like, you can brush the pockets with egg yolk before baking and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Then bake the pockets in the oven until golden brown. Incidentally, instead of pockets, you can also prepare sticks, as in our recipe for puff pastry sticks with Gouda and sesame.
Puff pastry snails are even more sophisticated. To do this, spread out rolled puff pastry and spread ingredients of your choice on it, for example, a mixture of cheese, spices, and steamed leeks. Pesto is also suitable for this purpose. Brush the edges with egg white, roll up the puff pastry and cut into slices. Before baking, brush the snails with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle some grated cheese on top. Incidentally, since puff pastry is prepared without sugar, it can certainly be used to replace classic yeast dough. A delicious example of this is our puff pastry pizza, a time-saving and wonderfully airy variation on the Italian original. With our Friesentorte recipe, a North German classic, the puff pastry provides the crunchy component in the creamy, fruity cake. If you would like to prepare a French specialty, we recommend our queen pies with ragout fin.
And if you want it to be a little richer, then meat wrapped in puff pastry is a good choice. To do this, sear the fillet, for example, pork fillet, for a few minutes on all sides and season the meat. Spread out the rolled puff pastry and sprinkle some breadcrumbs over it. Roll the fillets in the puff pastry and brush it again with egg yolk before baking.
