Dutch ovens are — at least to me — known mostly for two things: their ability to go seamlessly from stovetop to oven, and their ability to maintain heat. So, it wasn’t until I got my Dutch oven cookbook that I realized since it can hold heat, it can also hold the cold.
Heading into Memorial weekend and then summertime, that can come in handy.
I gave it a test with my family’s potato salad recipe, and found it survived traveling in a car without a problem.
Potato salad ingredients.
The recipe is not a particularly fancy way of making potato salad, but it’s easy and nothing store-bought is quite like it.
Chalk that up to the Italian dressing. That, and most recipes typically call for removing the potato skins but I like the added texture. Amounts vary widely as well because different people have different tastes, including me depending on the day. Mostly you just want to coat everything to your desired tastes.
That’s the awesome thing about this recipe; you can make it your way, and even add hard-boiled eggs as you desire. But this is the way my mother taught me.
Cold and delectable.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
2 lbs. potatoes
1 onion, chopped
½ to 1 c. Italian dressing
½ to 1 c. mayonnaise
½ c. yellow mustard
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Bring water (filled about halfway) to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add the potatoes, and simmer, covered, until they’re cooked through, about 20 to 40 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Drain water, and let the potatoes cool to room temperature.
Chop the potatoes into bite-size chunks of your preference. Add the onions and Italian dressing, and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours and up to overnight.
About a half-hour before serving, add the mayonnaise, mustard, and salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Enjoy with a hot dog or hamburger, and enjoy your Memorial Day!
I love the boxed Rice-A-Roni mixes as much as the next person who has little time and a desire for calories. But I love even more the absence of guilt when I home make a similar recipe.
This is how I came to create my own broccoli cheddar rice casserole.
Broccoli rice casserole ingredients.
Sure, recipes abound for throwing together cooked rice, a pre-made cheese sauce, and some microwaved broccoli, but with slightly more effort, you can enjoy baked, cheese, rice, and broccoli that doesn’t feel quite as bad for you.
Though it wasn’t hard to find either kind of recipe online, there was nothing I found that quite suited my tastes. So, I did what I usually do, I mixed and matched to make it suitable for my Dutch oven dreams.
All the recipes of any kind called for mushrooms but I just about refuse to eat them. If they’re tiny and hidden, I may be able to handle some. I can kind of do raw ones, sometimes, if I have to, but as much as I try to keep an open mind about foods, I just can’t do it with mushrooms. So, if you like them, feel free to remove one head of broccoli from my recipe and substitute with 8 oz. mushrooms, or do both and have an extra vegetable-y recipe.
With my changes, and thanks to mostly Southern Living and a little Serious Eats, and I had the perfect recipe, and even better, it came together quickly and deliciously. I loved it.
Nom nom noms.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
6 T. butter, divided
1 c. panko
2 c. cheddar, divided (I like extra sharp)
1 c. Parmesan, divided
3 c. broth (I used homemade; the recipe calls for chicken)
2 c. milk
1 bay leaf
2 t. thyme
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 t. red pepper flakes (optional but I liked the kick)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ c. flour
1 ½ c. uncooked long-grain rice
1 c. sour cream
3 heads fresh broccoli florets, chopped to stems
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt 2 T. butter, and combine it with the panko and ½ c. of the cheddar, and ½ c. of the Parmesan, and toss together. Set aside.
Melt remaining 4 T. in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the broccoli (and mushrooms if using), the salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes, and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until the broccoli has started to turn bright green. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the flour until combined.
Add the rice, and stir for another couple minutes. Stir in the broth and milk, and bring to a boil. Add the remaining cheeses, and the sour cream, and mix until well combined. Cover with Dutch oven lid or aluminum foil.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the rice is tender, the liquid is nearly absorbed, and the broccoli is cooked through. Add the panko mixture on top, and bake for another 10 minutes until the top is browned. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!
My sweetie and I had what we thought would be a fun idea when we were ordering meats earlier this year. We should try all these random non-chicken birds available from our favorite sustainable meat supplier, we thought. How bad could they be, we thought.
Well, I am here to tell you that there’s a reason we as meat-eaters dine on chicken more often than wild game birds. There’s the buck shot for one, and the feathering, but mostly it’s the strong and not altogether pleasant taste.
We made it through the birds, but in the future, I’m probably not going to eat too much partridge, wood pigeon, or pheasant. Unless the apocalypse comes sooner than I hope.
But to go along with these fowl, I thought I’d make a nice vegetable gratin to go with our meat-heavy dinner.
Vegetable gratin ingredients.
While the preparation went more smoothly than for the birds, the end result was a similar level of meh. It was easy but at the cost of being pretty bland.
It was less offensive than the birds to my taste buds but it also made a lot more and we’re still slowly going through the leftovers. I much prefer the similar vegetable dish I made last year on a sheet pan — marinated artichokes add so much, I guess (probably mostly salt) — than this Dutch oven gratin.
It looks pretty good, but it’s just not bad.
If you’re looking for a plain dish, or have ideas of sprucing up my adaptation of a The Kitchn recipe, here’s what I did:
Ingredients
2 small fennel bulbs, sliced*
3 medium leeks, halved and thinly sliced
¾ to 1 lb. potatoes, sliced*
1 medium onion, thinly sliced*
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into ½ inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced (I used the jar stuff, and didn’t measure)
1 ½ c. sour cream
1 ½ c. Parmesan
½ t. ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
*Note: A mandoline is recommended for slicing these vegetables, so they can be evenly thin. I used ⅛ inch.
Directions
Heat an oven to 400 degrees.
Add all the sliced vegetables to a large Dutch oven. Add in the sour cream, Parmesan, nutmeg, and salt and pepper, and stir well to lightly coat the vegetables with the cream mixture.
Bake, covered, for 45 minutes. Carefully remove the lid/cover, and bake for another 15 minutes uncovered so the top can brown. Cool for about 10 minutes, and (try to) enjoy!
I love it in all its forms, but one of my favorites is the one I made earlier this year, since it’s so simple and yet so tasty. I also love the store-bought jalapeno-cheddar bread, but I’d never thought to make it myself.
Then, I came across a recipe from 50 Campfires that pretty much combined the two. It basically took the recipe I used earlier this year, and then just added jalapenos and cheddar.
I forgot to snap a pic before I started, but picture the ingredients from my earlier bread recipe and then picture them mostly combined to look like this floury dough ball.
I decided to give it a shot.
My only concern as I was making it was the sheer amount of jalapenos. I like spicy but I have my limits, and this bread includes two in the dough (and rises for nearly 24 hours with them in it) and then one on top.
Mercifully, if you follow the instructions to remove the seeds from the two that go in the dough and just keep them for the one on top, it’s not overly spicy. There’s a little kick from the top slices but otherwise, it’s pretty mild. I’m sure the yeast and cheese help.
It’s more effort than store-bought but even better, and considering how quickly this stuff disappeared, I’ll be making it again (and again).
The cutest and tastiest little ball of bread ever.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. active dry yeast
1 t. salt
1 c. grated sharp cheddar, divided (I didn’t really measure but this is a good reference amount)
3 jalapeno peppers, divided
1 ½ c. warm water
Directions
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add in all but 4 T. of the grated cheddar cheese. Seed and chop two of the jalapenos, and add into the flour mix. Stir to combine all.
Add the water, and stir until a shaggy, sticky dough forms (a dough scraper works really well for this).
Cover the bowl, preferably with plastic wrap (grease it if you expect it to rise to touch the wrap). Let the dough rise in a cool, dry place (not the refrigerator) for 12 to 24 hours.
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Place the Dutch oven in the oven, covered, for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, transfer the dough to a heavily floured surface and shape it into a rounded loaf, but don’t knead it.
When the Dutch oven is ready, carefully remove from oven and remove lid. Carefully place the dough inside, and cover again. Bake covered for 30 minutes.
Carefully remove from oven, and remove lid. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with the remaining cheddar, and the sliced jalapeno (with seeds, if desired) and set slices on top. Bake uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes until the bread and cheese are golden brown.
Carefully remove loaf from the Dutch oven, place on a rack to cool (for at least an hour before slicing), and enjoy!
I love me a recipe that offers shortcuts and still tastes amazing. So, even though I don’t mind kneading bread, I still eagerly bookmarked the no-knead recipe from Jim Lahey as soon as I came across it.
No-knead bread ingredients. No, the Sodastream water is not bubbly.
Then, I discovered the caveat. There may not be kneading, but it still takes time and a little bit of getting your hands dirty (with sticky dough).
After going through it the first time, I shrugged and said I wasn’t really saving all that much so I wouldn’t make it again. That is, until I tasted it. Readers, it’s worth the time and effort.
And the more I’ve made it, the less the time and minor effort bothers me. I just plan better.
This is also a quintessentially Dutch oven dish.
Part of why the crust crunches so well is you preheat the Dutch oven for long enough that your dough goes into a nice and hot container. (I will admit, however, that I have used this recipe to make a couple of baguettes and it turns out well, just not as crunchy.)
It’s also pretty hard to mess up, since there are so few ingredients. The key is using bread flour, but I have — and I did this time on a whim — thrown in some amount of wheat flour and it’s worked. It’s not quite as fluffy but fiber does a body good.
Now, you can time things out how you want, but with a 12 to 18 hour rise time on the first go, my planning schedule is this:
*Before bed: Mix together the yeast, salt, water, and flour, and stir until blended.
*The next day/evening: When I get home from work, or the afternoon on a weekend, scrape the edges of the mixture and ensure it’s risen; then, turn out onto a lightly floured surface, shape into a boule, and wrap in a well-floured or cornmeal-coated towel, and let rise another 1 to 2 hours, before preparing to bake.
If you’re an early morning riser or an insomniac, a different schedule may work for you. But I’d rather get it started before bed and then deal with it later in the day. And a few hours extra rise time, if it’s a work day, hasn’t made a difference.
Again, it’s pretty hard to mess this up, even if there is an optimal way to make it that will maximize its awesomeness.
My boule isn’t the prettiest and it didn’t rise as much as I thought it would, but it tastes forking great.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
¼ t. active dry yeast
1 ⅓ c. cool water
1 ¼ t. salt (I estimate)
3 c. bread flour (OR, 2 c. bread flour, 1 c. wheat flour — which may require slightly more water)
Bran, cornmeal, or additional flour, for dusting
Directions
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast, and then add the water. Use a wooden spoon, rubber dough scraper, or your hands to mix together until a wet, sticky dough forms, about 30 seconds. If it’s not wet and sticky, add more water or flour as necessary.
Cover the bowl — either a tea towel or plastic wrap or a loose lid will work. Let rise in a cool place, out of direct sunlight, for 12 to 18 hours.
When small bubbles dot the surface of the dough and it’s at least doubled in size, dust a work surface with additional flour. Scrape the dough onto the work surface. Use your hands — lightly floured — to shape the dough into a round.
Dust a (non-terry cloth) tea towel with flour or cornmeal, and then place the dough, seam-side down, in the towel, and then gently wrap together. Let the dough rise for another 1 to 2 hours. (It’s ready when it has almost doubled and/or you can poke it with a finger and it holds the impression.)
About a half-hour before the second rise has finished, heat the oven to 475 degrees with a rack in the lower third of the oven. Place the Dutch oven, covered, in the center of the rack.
When the dough is ready, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven. Uncover it, and add some cornmeal or wheat bran if desired, to the bottom of the pot. Then, unfold the dough and quickly but gently invert it into the pot with the seam-side up. Cover the pot again.
Bake the dough for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid and continue to bake until the bread is browned but not burnt, another 15 to 30 minutes.
Once the bread is done, carefully remove the loaf from the Dutch oven, and place it on a rack to cool. Let cool for at least an hour before slicing, and enjoy with soup, butter, or all by itself!
I’ll be honest, there’s not much I’m going to miss about 2018. It was a long slog of a year. But I am a bit disappointed to be leaving sheet pan recipes behind. It turned out to be more challenging and have more variety than I even imagined going in.
And that was delightfully true with my final sheet pan recipe of the year.
Mostly I was just looking for something that would be versatile for the many smoked meats my sweetie made over the Christmas holiday, but I was delighted at how tasty my scalloped potatoes were. Especially for my first time and really fudging the recipe.
Sheet pan scalloped potatoes ingredients.
They also might have the distinction of being one of the fattiest things I’ve made this year. Helped by the fact that I added more cheese and more cream because that’s what I do.
My fudges — I chose to do a bechamel sauce instead of just heating cream because I also wanted to add leeks. Then, because it was thicker, I added more cream than the recipe called for. And as usual, I added more cheese.
But despite all that, it worked. It was — much like my lasagna — quite crusty but in the most delightful way.
My only note: Don’t be lazy like me, and instead, put it in Tupperware or storage containers while it’s still warm/room temperature; otherwise, you’ll be scraping at the pan to get all the potatoes and solidified fat off your sheet pan.
So much fatty goodness. Just look at it.
Here’s what I did, tweaking another Food Network recipe:
Ingredients
4 T. unsalted butter, divided
3 T. flour
2 ½ c. heavy cream
1 large leek, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used more)
1 T. dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 ½ lbs. Yukon gold potatoes (or similar), scrubbed and thinly sliced (a mandoline works best)
½ c. grated Parmesan
2 c. shredded Gruyere (about 6 oz.)
Directions
Grease a large rimmed sheet pan (the recipe calls for 18 by 13 inch, but mine is 15 by 12, and it was fine) with 1 T. of butter. Heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Melt the remaining butter in a medium saucepan. Add the sliced leek and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until the leeks are softened. Meanwhile, mix the flour with the thyme and salt and pepper. Slowly add the flour mixture to the leek mixture.
Stir for 2 to 3 minutes until lightly browned.
Add the cream slowly and stir in. Thicken slightly but not too much. Set aside.
Arrange half the potato slices in a single overlapping layer on the prepared sheet pan. Add half the grated Parmesan (and some of the Gruyere if desired). Arrange another layer of potatoes using the remaining slices. Spread the sauce mixture on top.
Cover the sheet pan with foil and bake the potatoes for about 20 minutes.
Carefully remove the sheet pan from the oven and remove the foil. Top the warmed potato mixture with the remaining Parmesan and Gruyere. Cook uncovered for another 15 to 20 minutes until the top is brown and crusty on top, the potatoes are cooked through, and enjoy!
Happy New Year, dear readers, and I’ll be back with in 2019 with a new plan for a new year.
The checkout girl at Target told me not to tell anyone that the bread I made this week had anchovies on it. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I’d be telling everyone through this blog post. So, let me get it out of the way at the front.
This bread is not for the faint-hearted.
If you can think of everything flavorful and potentially off-putting, this bread has it. Anchovies. Capers. Kalamata olives. Onions (lots of ‘em). Garlic.
Briny bread* ingredients. *Actually called “pissaladiere.”
It’s also got tomatoes, a butt-load of olive oil, and a no-knead yeasty bread.
Basically, me and my sweetie thought it would be perfect. And the recipe didn’t let us down. It’s been amazing.
The recipe comes from the cookbook my brother turned me on to about bread: “Bread, Toast, Crumbs” by Alexandra Stafford. I finally got myself a copy.
Unlike last time, my deviations from the original recipe worked just fine. I mostly stuck to it — including all those delicious toppings — but I have regular yeast, not instant, and I figured there was no harm in swapping. Especially since I spent a year making bread.
To correct, I just upped the amount of yeast and added a little honey to get it kickstarted, but otherwise I stuck close to the original.
My only complaint — and it’s expected — is that it took a long time and dirtied quite a few dishes, including the pain-in-the-ass-to-clean food processor. But I knew all that going in, and a lot of the time is pretty passive and a great time to rewatch this amazing season of “Doctor Who.”
It looks so pretty, and it’s tasty too.
Here’s what I did (with notes to use instant yeast):
Ingredients
For the dough
4 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. salt
2 ½ t. active dry yeast (1 t. If using instant)
2 c. lukewarm water
1 T. honey, optional
For the bread
6 T. olive oil, divided
3 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
4 anchovies
1 T. capers (I didn’t measure, I love capers)
½ c. kalamata olives, halved
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
Directions
Make the dough. If using active dry yeast, mix together the yeast, warm water, and honey, and let sit for about 10 minutes before stirring in the flour and salt. If using instant, the recipe says to mix together the dry ingredients, and then add the water (and honey). Either way, use a rubber spatula to stir until the mixture combined and you have a sticky dough that’s sort of ball-shaped. Cover the mixture with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise for about 1 ½ hours until the dough has doubled in size.
Just before the dough is ready, heat a large pan on high heat. Add 1 T. olive oil, and then add the onions. Cook on medium heat, stirring every few minutes, until the onions are golden, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
In a food processor, mix together the garlic and anchovies with 2 T. olive oil until pureed. Add the capers and pulse till chopped. Set aside.
Heat the oven to 425 degrees, and set the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a large rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper, and pour on the remaining 3 T. olive oil. Use two forks to deflate the dough by releasing it from the sides of the bowl and pulling it toward the center until you get a rough ball. Lift the dough with the forks or pour it onto the oiled sheet pan. Roll the dough ball in oil to coat it all over, and then let it rest for 20 minutes.
With greased hands, push the dough to stretch it to the edges of the sheet pan, and use fingers to dimple it. When the dough resists stretching, let it rest for about 5 minutes and then stretch again until it fits most of the sheet pan.
To assemble, spread the anchovy paste on the dough. Scatter on the olives, and then the carmelized onions. Top with the tomatoes. Use fingers again to dimple the dough and stretch more if necessary.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the underside of the dough is golden and crisp. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares, and enjoy!
I’ve loved Pixar’s “Ratatouille” since it first came out and I saw it in theaters. But it’s a movie that’s only grown on me since then.
Of course, I’ve come to love cooking even more, so that’s no surprise, but it’s really the movie’s messages that have grown in importance to me.
There is the message (*spoilers ahead*) from the critic at the end of the movie that “Anyone can cook,” which isn’t to say that we can all be great chefs but a great chef can come from even the humblest of beginnings.
But if I’m honest, it’s the message from Remy walking away from his dad to pursue his passion despite his family’s wishes that really gets me.
Screenshot from IMDB.
I won’t get overly sappy here, but I’m coming up on a year since leaving journalism, and that scene has been making me think and challenging me to move forward. That’s no less true of our current political climate as we approach another election. Things can change, as long as we decide to step up.
So, to readers, please vote and convince your friends and family to do the same. And, to myself, who voted last weekend, I am reminded to step up and try to help bring about that change by working for it.
Now, I’ll step off my pedestal and get back to my recipe.
Sheet pan ratatouille ingredients (please note, this is way too much to fit on one sheet pan).
I’m embarrassed to say how many years I’ve wanted to make the eponymous ratatouille from the movie, and I finally did it during my year of casseroles. And while it did not achieve the picturesque quality of the movie, it was a delight.
I thought it could be replicated on a sheet pan, albeit a smaller amount, and I was not wrong. However, I did buy way too much of the required vegetables, and so I had to make it on several sheet pans over multiple days. And yet, I’m not complaining.
I tried a few different methods to see what would work best — sauce on top, sauce on bottom, baked at a slightly lower temperature, and came up with what is my favorite. It’s also pretty easy, to boot, except the slicing, but it’s made easier if you have a mandoline slicer.
It looks classy, but it’s also easy and delicious.
Here’s what I did (using the best version of my tests):
Ingredients
About 2 small summer squash, sliced ⅛ to ¼ inch thick
About 2 small zucchini, sliced ⅛ to ¼ inch thick
About 2 medium Chinese eggplant, sliced ⅛ to ¼ inch thick
About 3 medium Roma tomatoes, sliced ⅛ to ¼ inch thick
Salt, to taste
Olive oil, for coating
1 jar (16 to 20 oz.) arrabbiata sauce
Basil, to taste
Thyme, to taste
Minced garlic (I used dried), to taste
Directions
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Spray or brush olive oil on a large sheet pan (about 15 ½ by 12 inches)
Pour the sauce on top of the oiled pan, enough to coat but not necessarily using it all. Place a layer of vegetables on top of the sauce, slightly overlapping like shingles, and in any pattern you like — I did a row of each except tomatoes and put tomatoes on top but do whatever makes you happy.
Oil the top of the vegetable layer and add some thyme, basil, and minced garlic. Add another layer and repeat with the oil and herbs and garlic. If there’s still room, you can add a third layer (with oil, etc. on top) but my edges are not high so two layers was about all I could handle.
Top with parchment paper.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the vegetables are cooked, with some browning around the edges (trust me, it tastes delightfully smoky). Serve with more sauce, if desired, and enjoy!
I can’t tell you the first time I had falafel but I know that it was love at first taste. And the love affair has been ongoing ever since.
I like any kind too. There’s not a boxed falafel I haven’t enjoyed, and I will go out of my way to get it in stores. Literally. Almost any time I’m in Iowa City, I’ll make a stop at Oasis. Heck, one time I made my family go to Canada (from Montana) to get a falafel dog (and hot dogs, which I also love).
Baked falafel ingredients.
So, it’s not a surprise that when I found a homemade recipe for it years ago, I had to try it. And once again, I’ve been making it ever since.
My tastes have evolved over the years, so it’s probably just my current palate that makes me say this, but I think this time is the best I’ve made it.
It comes from a snarky vegan cookbook that I’ve only made a handful of recipes from and mostly ignored the annoying pleas for using coconut oil, and I’m sure I’ve made other things where I straight up just added real cheese. Not to snark on vegans but, man, cool it sometimes.
So, suffice to say, I’ve amended the original (though mine is still vegan. Until I top it with tzatziki.).
Since I don’t have a good food processor, I used my very wonderful Ninja blender. That made it a little hard to bring the mixture together so I added a little water, and this made the mix look a little like cookies when I finally baked them. But don’t let that fool you, they were still amazing and perfect, and I honestly recommend making them with a few splashes of water even if you have a food processor so they turn out this delightful.
While they’re not as simple as pouring from a box, they are baked instead of fried and still pretty frickin’ easy, and did I mention, amazing?!
These aren’t cookies, but they are savory treats that won’t make you falafel. 😉
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ onion, chopped
2 T. panko crumbs
2 T. whole wheat flour
Chopped parsley, to taste (it calls for 2 T. but I like more)
4 cloves garlic
1 t. ground cumin, or to taste
1 t. ground coriander, or to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil, preferably spray
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spray or lightly coat with oil.
In a food processor or blender, combine the garbanzo beans, onion, panko, flour, parsley, garlic, spices, and a splash of water and blend. Pulse until smooth, adding tablespoons of water as necessary. Once mixed, flatten into about a dozen rounds and place on the lined sheet pan. Spray or brush lightly with more oil.
Bake for about 45 minutes, turning halfway through, and enjoy with tzatziki and pita!
I was not expecting to make this week’s dish, but I just happened to have all but one of the ingredients on hand. So, one Sunday morning before a get-together with friends, I whipped together spanakopita-like spinach swirls.
Spinach swirls ingredients.
And they’re a real Frankenstein’s monster of my previous sheet pan recipes.
I had left over one sheet of puff pastry from the sausage “sandwich” I made earlier this year. I had bought a gigantic block of feta for the chicken meatballs, because it called for the brine too, and had quite a bit leftover. I had the basic idea of what it’d take to make it work from when I actually did make spanakopita. We even just happened to have dill around for some reason, and everything but spinach is a regular pantry item. So, I sought spinach.
While I made this frantically, because as usual I was running late for said get-together, it was super simple and comes together quick. Mine didn’t look as pretty as a similar-ish recipe on the back of the puff pastry box but still tasty.
My only issue is I took the back-of-the-box advice to brush on an egg wash on the dough before baking, which was fine, but it made the swirls stick to the pan, so I wish I had used parchment paper for easy cleanup. Oh, and I probably should’ve strained the spinach a bit. Other than that, simple and delicious.
So simple and so delicious.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 sheet puff pastry
~1 c. crumbled feta (I’d bet a 4 oz. container of crumbled feta would be a fine amount)
½ c. Parmesan, shredded
2 eggs, divided
2-4 cloves garlic, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Dill, to taste
Flour, for rolling pastry dough
Directions
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a large rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.
Squeeze out water from handfuls of spinach and place in a large bowl. Add feta, Parmesan, garlic, 1 egg, salt, pepper, and dill to the spinach, and stir well to combine.
Place a small handful of flour on a clean surface, and unroll the puff pastry sheet. Sprinkle with more flour, and then roll out to about 12 inches by 10 inches or so.
Place the spinach mix along the long side of the puff pastry. Roll up like a jelly roll. Cut into about 12 slices.
Place face up on the lined sheet pan.
Mix together the remaining egg with about 1 T. of water. Stir the egg wash on the edges of the puff pastry to coat.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown, and enjoy!
