I needed a vacation dessert that was fast and required no sugar. I had super-sweet dates, figs and raisins for a place to begin. I purchased a bundle of ready-made pastry that comes rolled and minimize in discs for making empanadillas. A whirl within the mini meals processor for the dried fruits and I had a filling for turnovers that baked in underneath quarter-hour.
I didn’t use the entire bundle of 16 pastry discs for the turnovers. The remaining six, I tucked into muffin cups and baked them into shells. A day later, I crammed these crispy cups with sautéed mushrooms for a scrumptious little appetizer.
The pastry discs had been adaptable too—I used them to high a turkey pot pie and an apple pie.
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| Turnovers are made with store-bought pastry dough, full of chopped fruits and nuts. |
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| Identical pastry discs make cups, full of sautéed mushrooms. |
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| Flip the discs into crust for a turkey pot pie. |
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| Or, an apple pie dusted with sugar. |
The packaged dough is available in 4-inch discs (obleas), prepared for filling and folding. The bundle has the identical picture as perpetually, however the model de toda la vida, La Cocinera, has morphed to Buitoni (each subsidiaries of Nestlé). It’s a sturdy dough, meant to face as much as deep frying, however it bakes up good and crisp. (Not for everybody, nonetheless, because the fats within the dough is pork lard.)
Fig and Date Turnovers
Empanadillas de Higos y Dátiles
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| Fruit-nut filling for turnovers. |
These fruit-filled turnovers will remind you of mince pies and fig newtons! The filling components given within the recipe will be modified for raisins, prunes, or dried apricots.
Hold the bundle of pastry rounds refrigerated. Take away the pastry 10 minutes earlier than utilizing. The discs are layered between no-stick paper. After filling and shaping the turnovers, discard the papers. Place the turnovers on a sheet lined with baking parchment.
Makes 10 turnovers.
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| Dates, figs, walnuts, apples. |
10 (4-inch) pastry discs
1/3 cup walnuts
1/3 cup stemmed and coarsely chopped figs
1/3 cup pitted and coarsely chopped dates
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup chopped apple
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon brandy (non-obligatory)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon floor cardamon
Grating of contemporary ginger
1 egg, overwhelmed
Confectioners’ sugar to complete
Place the walnuts, figs, dates and cornstarch in a meals processor and course of till they’re finely chopped. Add the apple, lemon juice, brandy, if utilizing, cinnamon, cardamon, and ginger. Course of to cut the fruit and nuts. If you would like a clean paste, course of longer.
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| Fold dough over filling. |
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Unfold the person pastry rounds, nonetheless on their paper backing, on a piece floor. Place a spoonful of the fruit-nut filling on every spherical of dough, shaping it right into a log that extends nearly to the sides. Fold over the dough to make a half-moon empanadilla. Seal the dough both by rolling and pinching the sides collectively or by crimping them with the tines of a fork. As they’re crammed and sealed, place them on the baking sheet.
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| Crimp dough with fork. |
Brush the tops of the empanadillas with overwhelmed egg. Bake till golden, 12 to fifteen minutes. Cool on a rack. Mud with confectioners’ sugar to serve. The empanadillas preserve as much as one week saved in a tightly lined container.
Pastry Cups with Sautéed Mushrooms
Tartaletas de Champiñones al Ajillo
As soon as baked, the pastry cups will be saved in an air-tight container for as much as per week. They don’t have to be reheated earlier than filling with the mushroom combination.
Makes 6 (2 ½-inch) cups.
6 (4-inch) pastry discs
1 egg, overwhelmed
8 ounces mushrooms (3 cups chopped)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 shallot, chopped
¼ cup diced pink bell pepper
3 tablespoons dry Sherry
Pinch of thyme
Salt
Freshly floor black pepper
¼ cup (1 ounce) diced serrano ham (non-obligatory)
Chopped parsley
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| Press discs of dough into muffin cups. |
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Take away pastry discs from the fridge 10 minutes earlier than baking. Have prepared six (2 ½-inch) muffin molds. (Use a silicone muffin pan or else calmly oil the molds.)
Gently press a dough spherical into the molds, letting the dough pleat naturally to suit the mildew. Brush the dough with overwhelmed egg. Bake the pastry cups till golden, 12 minutes. Take away the pastry cups from the molds and funky them on a rack. If baked prematurely of serving, as soon as cooled, retailer the pastry cups in an air-tight container.
Clear and chop the mushrooms. Warmth the oil in a skillet. Add the sliced garlic. When it begins to show golden, add the mushrooms, shallot and pink bell pepper. Sauté the mushrooms on excessive, stirring regularly, till they start to brown. Add the Sherry, thyme, salt to style and pepper. Prepare dinner off the alcohol, 1 minute. Stir within the ham, if utilizing. Take away the mushrooms from the warmth. Add the chopped parsley.
Shortly earlier than serving the pastry cups, spoon the mushroom combination into the cups. Serve heat or room temperature.
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| Pastry cups will be baked prematurely and saved. Fill them with the mushrooms proper earlier than serving. |
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| Minimize pastry to suit, brush with oil, sprinkle pimentón. |
Turkey Pot Pie with store-bought pastry discs. Put together your favourite filling for pot pie—diced turkey or hen, mushrooms, carrots, and so on, in sauce/gravy made with dry Sherry. Place the new filling in an oven casserole. Prime with discs of pastry dough. Minimize the rounds to suit the casserole, as wanted. Brush the dough with olive oil, sprinkle with smoked pimentón and sesame seeds. Bake the pot pie in a preheated 400ºF oven, quarter-hour. If pastry isn’t browned, place underneath the broiler till calmly golden.
Apple pie with store-bought pastry discs. Put together your favourite apple pie filling. (I used sliced apples with honey, cinnamon, cloves, a spoonful of cornstarch.) As for the previous pot pie, high with pastry discs minimize as much as match the pie pan. Brush the highest of the pastry with overwhelmed egg and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake in preheated 375ºF oven 18-20 minutes.
Extra recipes for turnovers (empanadillas), together with how one can make your personal pastry dough:
Extra recipes with dried fruits:
