Veggie Puffs

I love to make these puffs for an evening snack or supper. If you want a quick fix, plan a bit ahead of time, i.e., get the pastry sheets out of the freezer and into the refrigerator a night before. If you want an even quicker fix, prepare the stuffing the night before as well.

Ingredients:

Stuffing

Puff Pastry Sheets ( I used pepperidge farms' "Sheets" not "Shells")

Red onion - diced - 1 small sized

Potato - baked/boiled & mashed - 1 med. sized

Paneer - 1/4 cup

Feta cheese -3 tbsp

Poppy seeds - 1 tsp

Sesame seeds - 1 tsp

Dried Cilantro flakes - 2 tbsp

Dried Basil - 1/2 tsp

Dried mango powder/Amchur - 2 tbsp

Dried pomegranate powder/anardana - 1 tbsp
Jaggery - powdered - 1 tsp
Raisins - 2 tbsp
Slivered Almonds - 2 tbsp

Salt & black pepper - to taste (keep in mind Feta cheese is salty)

Baby spinach - half a handful (!)

Glazing

Butter, or

Egg wash - 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degF. Mix all the ingredients above and your stuffing is ready. Dust a sheet of aluminum foil with flour and lay out the pastry sheets (that are not frozen). Brush the sheets with butter and cut the sheets in whatever shapes you like - rectangles or squares. Keep in mind you will have to fold these into triangles or rectangles once you add the stuffing inside. A tablespoon of stuffing for each puff should be good depending on the size of the squares you cut. Add stuffing, line the border with water and fold the sheet over. Lightly pinch the borders to close the puffs and brush the top of each puff with egg wash or butter. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes or until well-puffed and golden. Remove carefully from the pan and serve hot with mint chutney and maggi masala sauce.

Notes:

You can make the puffs either savory or sweet, and accordingly, change the stuffing to whatever you prefer - potatoes, peas, mix veg, paneer, spinach, fruits, chocolate, etc. I try a new stuffing every time I make puffs and more often than not, the end results are yummy.