French Onion Puffs

Puff pastry is one of those ingredients that I never manage to use up all at once. There is always a little bit at the end of the packet, tucked up and put back in the fridge…and then normally forgotten about until it’s too late. Leftover carrots, the end of a mozzarella ball and spare egg whites also fall into this category. Well, I’m still working on being better with those last three but I can safely say there will be no more sad bits of puff pastry languishing in my fridge in the future!I used the end of the flaky pastry I had made at school to make these – after spending 2 days making it from scratch there was no way this was ending up in the bin. I’d seen the original French Onion Puff recipe on Joy the Baker and knew it sounded good, but I felt a bit decadent buying and using a whole packet just for little canapés. I’m so glad I got round to trying them because the recipe did not let me down. Crispy pastry filled with sweet caramelised onions and melting cheese – a few of these still warm from the oven alongside some salad made the perfect lunch. And the rest made perfect afternoon snacks…I followed the recipe fairly loosely, halving it to suit my smidge of pastry (I still got 10 little puffs) and using half a mug of vegetable stock instead of wine, but to be honest I think it’s easily adaptable to any quantity of ingredients you have. These would make a very popular canapé as you could make them ahead easily and just bake them off at the last minute – just be warned you may need to make a few more than you need as they are very addictive! You can find the recipe here – enjoy.

Sausage Plait

Today is the second instalment in the ‘Lucy’s Recipes’ series of podcasts over on podium.me and it is one of my favourite recipes – sausage plait! I spoke briefly about this a few months ago but it really is a weekday favourite at my house. With only 4 ingredients it is so simple but worth it and perfect for after a long day at work or school – and then the leftovers are just as good in a lunchbox the next day. It’s also really versatile to adapt to your favourite flavours – you an experiment with different types of sausages, herbs and spices. It also doesn’t require exact quantities – if you have some leftover sausagemeat or puff pastry it is You can find the recipe below and listen to the podcast here – enjoy! Sausage Plait

Ingredients: 350g puff pastry
8 sausages
1 apple
1 onion

1. Preheat the oven to 190’C. Dice the apple and onion – there is no need to peel the apple.
2. Remove the sausages from their skins by making a small cut in the casing and peeling it off. Add the sausages, apple and onion to a large bowl.
3. Mix with a wooden spoon or your hands until the apple and onion are evenly distributed throughout the sausage meat.
4. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface to a large rectangle, a few mm thick. Shape the sausage mixture into a rectangle down the centre of the puff pastry.
5. Cut diagonal slits an inch apart in the puff pastry either side of the sausage mixture, towards the same end of the plait on both sides.
6. Starting at the end nearest you, fold the pieces of pastry over the sausage meat alternately, forming a plait effect. Bring up the ends of the pastry and trim off any excess.
7. Brush the plait with beaten egg and place on a large baking tray. Bake for 30minutes until the pastry is risen, crisp and golden. Enjoy!

Red Pepper Sausage Rolls

I’m currently working at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, serving in the umpire’s restaurant.  I’m essentially a posh dinner lady (think the mass catering challenges in Masterchef) but it’s actually really enjoyable, soaking up the Wimbledon atmosphere and listening to the stories of the different umpires. The umpires come from all over the world to judge the tennis – from Sweden, Italy, Australia, America, China and more. One bizarre fact I have realised whilst serving them at lunch is that many of the ones travelling from further afield have never tried a sausage roll before! I wasn’t aware that sausage rolls were a particularly English thing, but time and time again this week I have watched as the umpires point curiously at the sausage rolls and ask me to explain exactly what they are before nervously deciding to try one out. As a result, this week’s recipe is in honour of them!I’m not going to lie, I made these ages ago. I was going through my photos on my computer and discovered these hidden away in an obscure file, dated November 2012. 7 months have passed between the baking and the posting of this recipe, for no explainable reason as they were so good!Sausage plait is a midweek favourite at my house (I’m surprised I’ve never blogged it) and is something I’ve gradually introduced all my friends to as they have come for dinner at mine or I had it in my school packed lunch. It has also recently been made more famous here in the UK due to Nanny Pat frequently making them on Towie. Essentially, a sausage plait is just a giant sausage roll that can be sliced and shared, but this Alice Hart recipe shakes it up a little with some added flavour from sweet roast peppers. The result was really delicious, super juicy, bursting with flavour – I think the umpires would be a big fan! You can find the link to the recipe here – enjoy!

Caramelised Garlic Tart

I normally bake when I’m home alone, meaning that I have full decision making power in the kitchen and can choose to bake whatever I want from my books, magazines or To Bake list. However, last week these decisions were taken out of my hands as my Mum put in her requests for her Mother’s Day meal. For our main course she chose this Caramelised Garlic Tart, from Ottolenghi’s latest book Plenty. I love Ottolenghi’s shops and recipes but I don’t think this would have been a recipe I would ever have chosen on my own, despite its intro saying ‘‘I think this is the most delicious recipe in the world’ wrote Claudine after trying it out for me’. However, I’m glad that I did get to try it out as it certainly was delicious!It was maybe a little bit more involved than savoury recipes I normally do, but really I think it wasn’t that difficult and you can do parts of the recipe while other components cook. Anyway, the results were worth it! I’m not normally a big fan of goats cheese but I really loved this tart and I think it worked really well with the garlic. Speaking of which, garlic is definitely the predominant flavour – with 40 cloves (3 heads) of garlic it would be strange if it wasn’t! This sounded overwhelming, but after being blanched, fried and caramelised for 10minutes garlic loses its super intense flavour and becomes much more mellow, sweet and soft. Another unusual aspect of this tart was the puff pastry base – I’ve used puff for more rustic galettes, pies and turnovers but not pressed into a fluted tart tin. When you had to bake the case without beans the base completely puffed up but I just pressed it down and it was fine. I was slightly worried that when I went back to the finished tart the filling would be all over the oven floor, but it was all good! Overall, the tart definitely had an intense flavour and was rich but really good with a simple rocket salad on the side. You can find the recipe here and I strongly recommend you give it a try, even if like me it doesn’t sound like something you’d normally make. Enjoy!

Galette des Rois

When I was 11, I had to take an exam to get into the secondary school all my friends and I wanted to go to. There was one section about religion, including the question ‘What is the Christian holiday on January 6th?’ that neither my best friend or I knew. After the exam we were so upset as our parents told us straight away it was Epiphany and we thought we’d never be able to get into this school. Luckily we both did, but never again will either of us forget Epiphany! I’m especially pleased I found out about it as it gives me an opportunity to bake traditional Epiphany desserts, like this Galette des Rois.A Galette des Rois is made up of an almond frangipane filling encased in puff pastry. I saw a lot of variations on the original – some included sliced pears in the middle, some used chocolate puff pastry, some frangipanes had added flavours such as rose extract. I chose to stick to the original, despite how tasty the variations sounded, because it was the first time I’d ever made one. It’s traditional to hide a little trinket or bean in the filling which I duly did and found in my lunchbox slice the next day!Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of a slice of the galette, but the swirls on top look so pretty it hopefully doesn’t matter too much. I used a Raymond Blanc recipe, and it worked quite well although some of the almond filling exploded out one side of the galette. I’m not sure whether this was due to the texture of the filling (was it too liquid?) or just that I didn’t close the puff pastry edges enough, but the exploded filling still baked up nicely on the tray and just meant there was quite a thin layer in the centre. I also added extra ground almonds and almond extract to boost the flavour and firm it up a bit. Overall, it was a really lovely and relatively simple dish. It’s best straight out the oven as that is when the puff pastry is crispest and I think it would make a delicious and simple dinner party dessert any time of the year. Enjoy!

Pineapple Tarts

I wonder who first ever thought that pineapples should be eaten? When you see them – prickly sides, thick skin, tall spiky stalk – they don’t seem like the most inviting fruit. But, once in, pineapples are worth it. Sunny yellow flesh, soft and extremely juicy and turning just a little bit sharp on your tongue if you eat too much at once. But before you happily eat the whole fruit, raw and fresh, these tarts are definitely worth a try. The tarts are super easy and straightforward with just three basic ingredients: pineapple, puff pastry, apricot jam and an egg (based on a Lindsay Bareham recipe from the Times). The longest part of the recipe was carving up the fresh pineapple as I am not experienced, but if it was a real rush I don’t see why canned pineapple could not be used. Once you have cut your puff pastry circles you just pile on your pineapple and bake – simple! After baking you glaze the tarts with the jam to seal them and make them glossy. The pineapple goes tender and soft in the oven whilst the pastry goes crisp and crunchy. Very moreish.They’re a great way of bring a little sunshine into a grey day, accompanied by some crème fraiche and straight out of the oven: delicious. I would make these again but I would also make a few changes, just to tweak the few issues we found. Next time, I would add a layer of something under the pineapple, such as marzipan in the galette (although that may be too sweet here) to create more substance and keep the pastry base crisp. Also, whilst the basic recipe is perfect for a super simple dessert, in the future I would precook or flavour the pineapple to add another aspect to the tarts. For example, a quick caramelise in some sugar in a hot pan would emphasise the sweetness of the pineapple whilst adding some new flavour/texture. With these changes, I doubt these tarts would last very long in my kitchen!