This is a great recipe if you've got vegetarians coming over for dinner. I checked the label on the puff pastry I buy for this and it is made from vegetable fat so this recipe is fine for those difficult to cook for vegans as well. You do have to purchase one odd item, capers. Its the sort of odd item you get for one recipe and then don't use again for ages. Thankfully they'll keep for a long time. I make this recipe so often, that capers have been upgraded from weird one-off item that is purchased for a single recipe to item that I actually run out of. I have to make sure that I have some in before starting because it is the sort of thing my neighbours will never have in for me to borrow.
Pre heat your oven to 180 C or 350 F - a medium oven
Ingredients:
2 small courgettes or zucchini, washed and sliced
2 bell peppers, diced (I use two different colours for prettiness)
1 aubergine or eggplant, diced
1 British tablespoon or 2 US tablespoons of minced capers
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano (more or less to taste)
two blocks of ready-to-use puff pastry
Saute all the vegetables in a little olive oil until they begin to be soft - 15 to 20 minutes. Season with oregano, salt and pepper and turn the heat off and let cool on the back of the stove while you get the pastry ready.
Roll out the puff pastry on a clean, lightly floured surface. Cut large circles, about the size of a tea cup saucer. Make certain you have an even number of circles - one for the top and one for the base. If you find it quicker, you can just cut the pastry into rectangles.
Lay your puff pastry bases out onto baking sheets or trays. Place a small mound of the cooked vegetables in the centre of each base. Ensure that the vegetable filling doesn't touch the edges, but if it does, don't freak out, just push it back. Lay the top puff pastry shape over the top and press the edges with the tines of a fork. They are now ready for the oven.
You can embellish a bit here and give the pasties a light brush of beaten egg (don't use an egg if there are vegans about) or brush with some water and a sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
Bake these in the oven for about 40 minutes OR until the pastry is puffed up and light brown. Please use your common sense with the baking times. No two ovens have the same cooking times. My oven runs a little hot and I have to compensate by keeping the thermostat a bit lower than is normal. Just make certain the puff pastry isn't too pale or too brown and you can't go wrong.
Serve hot. Please be careful when serving them, especially serving them straight out of the oven. The middles will be very steamy and might burn.
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3 comments:
Thanks Peggy! Your "no nonsense" recipe answered all my questions. I am now ready to try puff pastry for the first time.
Really fancy giving this a go (sounds delicious) but a quick question - roughly how many pasties would this recipe make?
Scrabble Queen - The answer to your very reasonable question is . . . .SOME.
It really depends on how thinly you roll the puff pastry, how small you cut your shapes and what shapes you cut.
If I'm in a hurry, I'll cut squares that are about the size of a CD case. I can make about 8 of those. If you serve with boiled new potatoes and salad - you can feed 5 or 6 people.
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