puff pastry squares

Honestly, I was inspired by those pictures of flowers and leaves illustrated by the use of vegetables and herbs on focaccia bread on instagram. But I decided to have a twist on it and improvised on something different.

This is what I did with half of a roll of shortcrust puff pastry:

Of course you can use a whole roll of puff pastry and make double the amount that I did

This would make a crunchy savoury snack that involves vegetables and cheese! Great to have them with some tea for a complete afternoon tea time snack.

I used brie cheese as the second base below the vegetables on some of the pastry squares which gave a salty taste to balance the sweetness from the puff pastry.

I would call this improvisation as I tried to make patterns of flowers and nature on 2 of the squares then just some random random patterns on the others.

Toppings:

Fresh rosemary

Get the herb fresh as it would really contribute for a strong rosemary scent.

Zucchini

little slices of zucchini can become sweet to the pastry squares when roasted. It also pairs well with the brie layered below it.

Red and yellow bell peppers

These give an extra crunch to the brie layer below it and to the whole pastry square.

Mushrooms

Soft and chewy texture that will balance the crunchy texture from the pastry.

Tip

Shortcrust puff pastry or regular puff pastry?

shortcrust pastry would give a crunchier texture to the pastry of the galette and is suitable for this recipe.

Regular ready rolled puff pastry works well too. It will result a more chewy and soft texture.

I would recommend placing the store bought puff pastry in room temperature for 20 minutes before laying it flat on a surface. This is to prevent the pastry from tearing as it needs to warm down and soften a little..

As I said, I used half of a shortcrust pastry and cut out 6 squares.

Then, I sliced some brie cheese and placed them on top of 5 squares that would have vegetables added all over.

I didn't add brie cheese as a second layer to the square that had the fresh rosemary as I thought the rosemary would go well itself.

Thinly sliced my choice of vegetables and made patterns of them.

Seasoned them with a dried herb mix (marjoram, dried marjoram, basil, oregano and thyme), salt and pepper.

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This recipe makes 12 servings

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 shortcrust puff pastry 375g

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 yellow bell pepper

2 chestnut mushrooms

5 stalks of fresh rosemary

4 slices of zucchini

1/4 cup brie cheese

pinch of dried herb mix (marjoram, dried marjoram, basil, oregano and thyme) (optional)

pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 180C.

2. Lay out the puff pastry flat on a surface.

3. Divide the puff pastry into 12 squares by scoring lines with a knife.

4. Slice the red and yellow bell peppers at around 2 inches long. Thinly slice the chestnut mushrooms and zucchini.

5. Top the pastry squares with a layer of brie cheese then with any choice of sliced vegetables or rosemary.

6. Sprinkle a pinch of the dried herb mix, salt and pepper all over.

7. bake for 20 minutes in the oven until the squares are lightly browned.

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Hope you enjoyed making these puff pastry squares if you did.

Feel free to leave a comment or a heart below!

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