Brunch Snacks // Mini Pasties

Following on from my first 'Brunch Snacks' recipe I decided last night to try another recipe. When cooking I generally like to just chuck a load of things together and hope for the best - obviously for most things I do follow some kind of recipe but generally I like to mix flavours and see how they turn out.

This week I bought some roll out puff pastry to make a spinach type cheese tart thing and had some left over so thought why not try some mini pasties to take to work for my mid-morning snack. This is super easy and can be adapted to your own taste, adding pretty much any ingredients that will fit. I only managed to make four from the left over pastry but I think with a whole sheet of it you could probably get at least 8 depending on size. You could, of course make bigger pasties too! Here's what I did...

Ingredients:

Roll out puff pastry
Fillings: I used Spinach, Cheddar Cheese, half of one Red Pepper. (Other suggestions: cherry tomato, pesto, broccoli (small), curry potatoes, quorn mince and onion - or real meat of course)
Seasoning: Black Pepper

1. With your pastry rolled out decide how big you want your pasties to be - I just did this by eye and cut a rectangle - it will be folded over so bear in mind what you want to put inside and if you have enough room
2. Arrange your filling in the centre of one side of the pastry. I did a couple of spinach leaves folded, then cheese, a few slices of pepper and then another spinach leaf
3. Fold over the pastry and use a fork to crimp and seal the edges
4. Optional - brush the top of the pastry with some beaten egg (I didn't do this and they came out fine)
5. Pop in a pre-heated oven on 180C/Gas 4 for 20 minutes until slightly golden. 

I've tasted one this morning and they came out yummy! One tip I have is to use a mature cheddar - the stronger the better if that's your thing! It adds a lovely flavour.

Enjoy!

Betty xXx