I got a wild hair and decided to try making my own puff pastry because I'm sick of paying $5 for two sheets of it at the store. I found this recipe on Martha Stewart's website: http://www.marthastewart.com/856577/puff-pastry. It was easier than I expected, but it is labor intensive. After making the dough I had to make goodies to make sure it turned out alright. So I made these Spinach-Artichoke Pinwheels. They were super easy and turned out delicious. Now I have to make more! Here are the recipes:
Puff
Pastry
Yield Makes approximately 2 pounds
Ingredients
1 pound all-purpose flour, accurately weighed
1 pound (4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small
pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 cup heavy cream mixed with 1/2 cup
ice water)
Directions
1.Make the butter dough: In the bowl of a food processor or
using the flat paddle of an electric mixer, mix 1/2 cup flour with the butter
until very smooth. Shape the mixture into a 1-inch-thick flat square, wrap well
in plastic, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
2.Make the flour dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine salt
with the remaining flour, and add cream. Mix the dough well by hand or with an
electric mixer; the dough will not be completely smooth, but it should not be
sticky. Shape it into a 1 1/2-inch-thick flat square, wrap in plastic, and
chill for at least 30 minutes.
4.Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and on a lightly
floured board, roll it out into a large rectangle approximately 1/2 inch thick.
Fold the dough into thirds, aligning the edges carefully and brushing off any
excess flour. The object is to ensure that the butter is distributed evenly
throughout so that the pastry will puff evenly when baked. Wrap the dough, and
chill it for at least 30 minutes. This completes one turn.
5.Repeat this process five more times; classic puff pastry
gets six turns, creating hundreds of layers of butter between layers of the
flour dough (729 to be exact). Use as little flour as possible when rolling out
the dough, and always brush off any excess. Remember to let the dough rest for
at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator between turns, or 15 minutes in the
freezer. This chilling makes rolling out the dough much easier and keeps the
layers of butter equally thick.
6.By the sixth and final turn, the dough should be very
smooth, with no lumps of butter visible. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap;
refrigerate until ready to use (for up to 2 days), or freeze for future use.
Spinach-Artichoke Pinwheels
1/2 recipe puff pastry rolled out to
1/4 inch thickness
8 oz marinated artichokes drained and
chopped
4 oz fresh spinach chopped and wilted
or 1 frozen container chopped spinach thawed
1/4 cup garlic and herb cream cheese
at room temperature
1/2 cup mozzarella or Colby jack
cheese shredded
1. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees. Line
cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Roll our puff pastry into a
rectangle on a lightly floured surface
3. Spread cream cheese on puff pastry
leaving 1/2 inch around the edges without any cream cheese
4. Spread chopped artichokes, spinach
and shredded cheese on top of cream cheese.
5. starting on longest edge start
rolling up puff pastry like a cinnamon roll.
6. With a sharp knife slice roll into
1/2 inch segments and place on lined cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until
golden and cheese is melted.
