Receta Spinach Prosciutto Cheese Swirls
I love using Pepperidge Farm puff pastry for appetizers and dessert. These wonderful sheets are especially handy for special occasions or say, maybe a Super Bowl weekend. You can find all sorts of recipes here.
I don’t often look on/inside boxes of prepared food for recipes. But I had 2 boxes of these in my freezer and wanted to make something other than palmiers. One box had a recipe for spinach cheese swirls that looked really good (recipe here). Since the Mister has been offsite all week, working hard, I thought I’d surprise him with a little appetizer when he got home.
As a matter of fact, my MIL stopped by shortly after the Mister got home (did she know I was making appetizers??) and had a chance to try these out. Winner, winner!! Cheese swirl…ah, never mind. Bottom line, both of them gave two shakas and hearty “mmmmm!” Well, MIL didn’t do the shaka but she was still “mmmmmm” all the way to her car when she left.
I used the recipe as a guide and used what I had on hand. Here’s my adaptation of the recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 sheet of Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed according to package instructions
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 3-4 pieces of sun-dried tomato (packed in oil), chopped finely
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 slices of prosciutto
- 1 package (about 10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
Directions:
Heat the oven to 400°F.
Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.
In a medium bowl, combine thoroughly the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomato, onion and garlic powders.
Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture. Have the pastry sheet with a short edge closest to you. Top with the cheese mixture, leaving the 1/4 inch top short edge clean. Layer the prosciutto on top of the cheese mixture, and finally topped with spinach. You may not need all the spinach.
Note: make sure as much of the water is squeezed out of the spinach or else it’ll make the puff pastry soggy. Use those muscles and squeeze!! Then break up the clumps of spinach before layering on the puff pastry.
Starting with a short side closest to you, roll up like a jelly roll. Cut into 20 slices, about 1/2 inch each. Place the slices, cut-side down, onto baking sheets. I lined my baking sheets with Expat (similar to Silpats). You can also use parchment paper, if you wish. Brush the slices with the egg mixture.
Bake for 16 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. I prefer these slightly warm.
These can be reheated in a warm oven. Extras can be stored in airtight containers for a day.
The Mister said these were *very* addictive. I had quite a few myself. I really liked the flavor that the prosciutto gave it. Of course it can be left out and it would still be very good since the sun-dried tomatoes also added a great savory element to it. The exposed pieces of the spinach got a little toasty, which I thought was nice and reminded me a bit of toasted nori (in texture, not so much taste). Wait, toasted nori…maybe with some thin slices of Spam in puff pastry?? Hmm, that might have to be explored!
So if you’re looking for an appetizer that’s easy and very tasty for your Super Bowl get-together, here you go.