Paillettes: Quick puff pastry hors d’oeuvres

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Appears in Chef John Besh’s cookbook, Cooking From the Heart: My Favorite Lessons Learned Along the Way.  Read our review.

Impromptu hors d’oeuvres depend on good-quality, frozen puff pastry dough; always keep some in your freezer. It’s so easy to turn a sheet of pastry into paillettes (cheese straws) in many shapes and flavors. Slice, bake, and voila! A salty crusty nibble.

Yield: 8–10 servings

Ingredients:

1 sheet puff pastry dough, defrosted

1 egg

2 tbsp. milk

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

2–3 pinches cayenne pepper

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
  2. Lay the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Lightly beat the egg with the milk and, with a pastry brush, coat the dough with the egg mixture. Dust with the Parmesan and cayenne.
  3. Roll the dough into a jelly roll cylinder and slice into pinwheels about 1⁄4-inch thick.
  4. Lay them on a baking pan and bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Note: Top your paillettes with this delicious tapenade from Chef Besh!
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