Aug

16

Speck puff pastry twists on a barbecue evening

August 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago we were invited over to the neighbor’s house for a barbecue and when we arrived the table was beautifully decorated with colored glasses filled with puff pastry twists. I have a particular and irresistible love for finger food and I couldn’t stop eating them. At first glance I thought they were the usual kind made with Parmesan cheese, but these were much much better. They had Parmesan cheese but they were also enriched with thin slices of speck, a cold cut typical of the Tyrolean cuisine (see: a glimpse into the Tyrolean cuisine).

I asked our friend how she made them and while she was explaining me the procedure I got the impression that they were a little bit complicated. When I prepared them however I realized how wrong I was. I assure you they’re easier to make then it seems and surprisingly fast, 20 minutes from start to finish. I’ve already added this recipe among my favorite appetizers and it’s hard not making them over and over again.

Puff pastry twists apart the barbecue was a success. It was a combination of Italian and American dishes. My neighbor made a fabulous caponata, a famous Sicilian dish served mainly as an appetizer. It was a family recipe from her husband’s side. She also prepared few slices of grilled polenta covered with thin slices of lard. I don’t like lard, actually I’ve never been able to eat it, but this time I had the courage and ate a piece and to my surprise it was really good completely melted over the polenta. The last appetizer was my BLT dip, a creamy cheese dip with bacon bits, cheddar cheese and tomatoes served with crackers. They devoured it. The appetizers were followed by grilled meats: sausages with fennel seeds, salamelle (a bigger kind of sausage), pancetta cut in thick slices, Argentinian beef, beefsteaks and pork loin. We served the meats with the potato salad I made instead of the usual grilled polenta. The neighbors loved it.

We ended up on a sweet note with my cheesecake, but my kid and I finished our dinner with the last puff pastry twists. I was a little bit ashamed but I couldn’t help it. Few days later I made them again for my family and they disappeared in minutes.

Speck puff pastry twists

Ingredients:

2 rectangular puff pastry sheets
4 oz. speck thinly sliced
1/2 cup freshly grated Italian Parmesan
1 egg yolk
dry oregano

Preparation:

Place the puff pastry sheets on a working surface.
Layer the Speck slices over one sheet, covering the entire surface. Sprinkle the Speck generously with Parmesan cheese.
Beat the egg yolk lightly with a fork and brush the other sheet with it. Sprinkle the egg sheet with a small quantity of oregano.
Place the sheet with egg over the speck one. The egg side has to adhere to the Speck one.
To do this last operation is better if your puff pastry sheets are on a wooden board.
Cut the sheets lengthwise with a pizza cutter, about 1 inch wide. Without moving the slice from the surface, start twisting it from one end, holding the other end firm. As you can see in the first picture the twists are short but you can keep them long as in the second picture, they actually look better for a decorative table.
When the twist is done place it on baking sheet, previously covered by oven paper.
When finished bake the puff pastry twists in a preheated oven at 400° for 10 minutes or until golden.

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