If you are anything like us and are constantly entertaining, then you know sometimes you need to pull off a last second miracle to get food on the table. If your door is always open to friends and family, you never know when they are going to stop over or when you decide to have a last-minute get together. We usually get together with friends for New Year’s Eve, so to cut down on time and focus more on hanging with your guests I created these two last-minute New Year’s Eve puff pastry appetizers that are ridiculously easy to make and are absolutely delicious.
Puff pastry is probably one of the coolest doughs out there because it is so light and fluffy as well as being flaky and crispy at the same time. Puff pastry rises high with layers of buttery dough and is just so dang good. The dough is also a bit difficult to make at home because of the time commitment of constantly folding over the dough and resting. Since homemade puff pastry is a little hard to make, frozen options are abundant and huge on saving time! To get puff pastry ready, you simply thaw it out and roll it out on a clean surface sprinkled with flour. There are a ton of different things you can do with the buttery dough, but I’m going to focus in on these two really easy recipes.
Fig Brie en Croute with Walnuts & Rosemary
Brie en croute has been around forever so to me there is no need to reinvent a classic, but rather enhance some flavor combinations just to change it up. Once you roll out your puff pastry, you simply want to place the brie cheese round right to the center. Next, you want to spread your jam all over top of the brie cheese. I’m using fig jam because I am going to try and get a flavor affinity going when I garnish with walnuts and rosemary which insanely compliment brie cheese and fig jam. I’m only telling you this because I like this flavor combo, however you can change up the jam to whichever one you like. I’ve seen people use marmalades, hot pepper jelly, even fresh berries. The “jam” portion of the recipe is up to you, but if you want the flavor combo I am going for then for sure do it. Fold the dough upwards, give it a little twist, brush with some egg wash and bake away. Serve it up with some chopped walnuts and rosemary and you’re good to go.
Fig Brie en Croute with Walnuts and Rosemary
Ingredients
- 1 sheet of thawed frozen puff pastry + flour for dusting
- 14 oz brie cheese round
- 4 oz fig jam
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk (whisk together with egg)
- .5 cups roughly chopped walnuts
- 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Roll out the puff pastry sheet so that it expands 1” around all sides on a clean surface dusted with flour.
- Place the cheese right in the center and spread the jam over top of the cheese.
- Fold the corners of dough up over the cheese and jam and layer over each other or twist it.
- Brush the entire outside of the dough with the egg and milk mixture and place on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped walnuts, rosemary sprigs and crackers.
Nutrition
Spinach and Artichoke Tart
The second puff pastry recipe is a little more intense but still crazy easy to pull off. You want to roll out your puff pastry on a clean surface dusted with flour just like with the en croute, but instead you want to treat it kind of like a pizza by leaving the outside edge alone and evenly adding on ingredients to the middle. We are going to use the wonderful flavor combos of spinach and artichokes to make this tart which also features mozzarella cheese, feta and fresh herbs. Brush the outside edge with the egg wash and bake away! Slice this beauty up and serve it alongside the brie en croute for two super easy New Year’s Eve puff pastry appetizers.
Spinach and Artichoke Tart
Ingredients
- 1 sheet of thawed frozen puff pastry + flour for dusting
- 4 oz shredded mozzarella
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- 1 15-ounce can of quartered artichokes, drained
- 4 oz sliced mozzarella
- .5 cups crumbled feta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk (whisk with egg)
- fresh oregano and basil leaves for garnish
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Roll out the puff pastry sheet so that it expands 1” around all sides on a clean surface dusted with flour. Transfer to a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella around the dough leaving 1” around the edge of the dough for the crust.
- Next, evenly spread on the spinach, artichokes, sliced mozzarella, and salt and pepper.
- Season with salt and pepper and bake at 350° for 20 to 22 minutes or until browned on the outside edge.
- Garnish with feta cheese and herbs.
- Slice and serve!
Nutrition
