Don't like mushy peas – curried or otherwise?

Worry not, I have an alternative – cheese or rather three cheeses in a pastizzi. If like me you're a fan of cheese the ultimate combination has to be encased in puff pastry. A marriage made in heaven!

Lets not mess around, here's the recipe :

Three Cheese Pastizzi

for 20 pastries

2 x 320g puff pastry sheets – 10 per sheet

10cm/4” cutter

300g/12oz ricotta cheese

70g/2oz grated Mozzarella

40g/1oz Parmesan, finely grated

½ tsp of Dijon mustard

celery salt and black pepper

1 egg, beaten – half to add to the mixture

half to seal and egg wash

Mash the ricotta in a medium mixing bowl until it's smooth – use a fork. Season with the mustard, salt and black pepper, stir and add half the beaten egg – mix well. Cover and fridge until ready for use.

Take your sheets out of the fridge and allow them to warm up – you'll get a cracked and split sheet if you try to unroll straight away.

Roll out the sheet – initially you should get six circles – gather the remnants and re-roll for a further four.

Place a level tablespoon of mixture in the middle of each circle. Brush half the circle with the beaten egg and fold up to seal. Edge the seal with a pastry fork and then egg wash.

Pre-heat your oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7.

Bake the pastizzi for 20 minutes.

If you'd prefer to make ahead and freeze, place the uncooked pastizzi on a tray lined with baking paper. Freeze for 2/3 hours or until firm and then transfer to a strong freezer bag – store for up to a month.

To cook – Pre-heat your oven as above. Flour two baking trays and place the frozen pastizzi, egg wash and then bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

The method of assembly is exactly as for the pea pastizzi so I'm not going to repeat it. Photos of the mixture et al that you haven't seen are up next.

Pastizzi bonus bits and the feedback

Pastizzi freeze very well. If you'd prefer this method then place the uncooked pastizzi on a tray lined with baking paper. Freeze for 2/3 hours or until firm and then transfer into a strong freezer bag. They will keep for up to a month – if they last that long!

To cook from frozen, pre-heat your oven as mentioned previously. Flour the two baking trays and place the frozen pastizzi, bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

It just so happened that my friend Kerry was with me when I took the pastizzi out of the oven so I enlisted a new veggie taste tester. Verdict – lovely, light as a feather. I'll take that.

Later on that day I popped in to see other friends, Joss and Leanne and delivered the same treat. Shortly after leaving them I received a text … “yummy scrum”. I'll take that too.

My friend Morag just loves a PPS … “I have discovered that a puff pastry sheet is not just for Christmas and making sausage rolls, it's for making pizza puffs and cheese and onion slices to gain brownie points with friends, pay in kind – not in cash”.

I think Morag is going to be a very happy girl!

If you want to produce savoury morsels quickly, whether for entertaining at home with drinks or, as we've been talking about of late, for picnic or portable food but fast, then pastizzi definitely fits the bill. The joy of using a puff pastry sheet is the big fat tick it gets for those of us who have a limited amount of time or, more to the point, no time at all!

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Pastizzi Puff Pastry bake

More photos to help you :

Ready for the oven!

Pre-heat your oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7.

Bake the pastizzi for 20 minutes.

Here they are, fresh out of the oven and then cut in half – let them cool!

Ta dah – curried pea pastizzi – sounds much

better than pea pie!

Bonus bits and the feedback coming up.

Pastizzi - onion and spice mix and the method

Next up the mix :

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot. Cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the curry powder, celery salt and black pepper and fry for a further 30 seconds. Place in a container with a lid, cool and then fridge until ready for use.

The photos so far :

Take your pastry sheets out of the fridge and allow them to get to room temperature – you'll get a cracked and split sheet if you try to unroll straight away.

You will need two baking trays, floured and a round straight sided cutter 10cms/4” in diameter. Unroll the sheet – initially you should get six circles – gather the remnants and re-roll for a further four - a total of 10 pastizzi per PPS.

Place a level tablespoon of mixture in the middle of each circle. Brush half the circle with the beaten egg and fold up to seal. Edge the seal with a pastry fork and then egg wash. Do not overfill – use your pastry fork to flatten the filling, it will make it easier to fold and seal – follow the instructions and photos given in “The pastry fork and the dainty” and “The “dew” and the dainty bake” if you'd like to see a step by step photo guide.

The beauty of using a sheet is that it's already flat

– I'd give it a quick once over with a rolling pin just

for the fun of it

For more photos and Pastizzi Puff Pastry bake, read on …

Pastizzi

The dainty has reminded me of many holidays in Malta and Gozo, many moons ago. Most of us who are interested in food in whatever form – cooking it or eating it – remember stand out delights and the nostalgia that goes with it.

Pastizzi are traditional small pies or more accurately pastries usually made with mushy peas or ricotta cheese, these delicious snacks are baked in a pastizzeria – small family businesses – and sold in bars, cafés and by street sellers – long before street food became fashionable. I loved them both so I thought I'd re-visit and share the results with you.

If you like the idea of miniature pies or pastries but don't have the time or the inclination to make pastry, then I may have the answer. Our old friend the puff pastry sheet - aka “PPS”.

This recipe is for a curried pastizzi and comes in two stages, soaking and cooking the peas and then adding the onion and spice mix.

Makes 20 pastizzi

2 x 320g Puff pastry sheets

2 eggs, beaten to seal the pastries and

egg wash

175g split peas

1 tbsp of rapeseed oil

1 small brown onion, finely diced

2 cloves of roasted garlic

3 tsps of curry powder – mild or medium

celery salt and black pepper

The mushy peas

You can buy quick soak dried peas, they only take two hours. Incidentally here's your source of fibre not to mention low fat and low sugar. You get two bicarb soaking tablets – why two - so that if you decide to soak half the quantity you have a tablet for each half. A whole packet of peas is 250g.

Soaking

Tip the peas into a medium/large mixing bowl, with the soaking tablets and pour 850ml/1½ pints of boiling water over the peas. Stir them and leave for two hours, drain and rinse.

Cooking on the stove

Place the peas in a medium/large saucepan and add 425ml/¾ pint of boiling water. Add a teaspoon of sugar and salt. Boil gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the water has been absorbed or the peas are tender. Transfer the peas to a container with a cover and when cooled fridge until ready for use. You may find it useful to cook the peas the day before you want to use them.

You don't have to add the onion and spice mix – it's entirely a matter of taste.

Coming next … the onion and spice mix and the method.

The “dew” and the dainty bake

Place the dainties on a floured baking tray making sure you leave space between each pastry. Now for the “dew” - the double egg wash. Egg wash each dainty – remember where you begin – leave for a couple of minutes, then repeat.

they look fab, even before the bake!

Bake in a hot oven – 200fan/220c/Gas 7 for 15 minutes, then turn off your oven and leave for another 5 minutes. Don't forget to set your timer!

Here they are :

I love it when a plan ...

A pleasure to make and a greater pleasure to eat. A word of warning – tempted though you may be allow them to cool – you'll be sorry if you don't!

The pastry fork and the dainty

You can crimp the edge or, here's another idea.

Say hello to your new best friend and the latest in the kitchen kit category – a tiny pastry fork – aka a cake fork. It's a win win – small, doesn't take up space and inexpensive. You can spend as much or as little as you want. I bought mine from IKEA - £5.50 for six.

it measures 14cms/5½” in length

The pastry fork is the perfect tool to edge your dainty – the fork is small and easy to control. You get a neat and even edge.

Have a look : 

A great result – the “dew” and the bake up next.