Last holiday party, you barely had time to see your family members and friends. While your guests were mingling under the mistletoe you made shrimp cocktails and baked mini quiche trays.
Do you sound familiar? Are you feeling the same?
Deana Gunn, Wona Miniati, are the authors of this cookbook “Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s,”It’s as easy as buying the right ingredients.
To make homemade puff pastry takes hours of folding the dough. But frozen puff pastry, available in most grocery shops, is quick and easy to make. “Use the grocery store as your prep kitchen,” says Miniati. “With the right purchases, you can make gourmet appetizers in minutes.”
Serve these simple Pastry Bits at your next event. You can also use pesto with roasted red bell peppers or goat cheese with cranberries as an alternative filling.
Pastry Bites
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
3-4 tablespoons of olive spread or bruschetta
Preheat the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The puff pastry sheet should be cut into nine equal squares. Drop a teaspoon of bruschetta in the middle of each square. Place the squares on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve immediately
To make pumpkin tarts fast, wrap pumpkin butter in puff pastry dough.
Pumpkin Spice Turnovers
2 sheets puff pastry, frozen.
1/2 cup pumpkin butter (or apple butter) or any fruit jam
Preheat the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Each puff pastry sheet should be cut into four equal pieces. Place 1 tablespoon pumpkin butter in each square. Make a triangle out of the pastry and seal it with a pinch. Repeat the process for each square. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
For more information on the cookbook or to see more recipes, click here “Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s,”Visit www.cookingwithtraderjoes.com.
