No Measure Puff Pastry Pinwheels

I love easy baking, I mean, sometimes you just need easy.  Good and easy, that is.  If the end product isn't good, the "easy" is pointless.  Here's one that's good and easy!  Puff pastry pinwheel recipes have been around for a long time, and what's good about them is how versatile they are.  You can go sweet or savory.  They're the perfect appetizer size, and people really like to eat them! Well, not all people -I do have a friend that can't eat garlic and utterly detests the taste of parmesan. I can just see him now, rolling his eyes and thinking how horrible and disgusting these would be.  He certainly wouldn't like them. Sorry Neil.

Anyway, I almost always have a few packages of puff pastry in the freezer, so after looking online at lots of puff pastry recipes for something different than my usual to do, there they were - pinwheels.  I decided.... heck, I don't even need a recipe for these things.  I'll just make 'em with what's in my pantry and fridge and see what happens.  So that's what I did, and I didn't measure a darn thing.  Guess what?  They were really good. 

 

I raided the pantry and fridge and took these things out to use:

• jarred spaghetti sauce
• Italian herb seasoning
• Garlic powder
• Grated parmesan cheese

After rolling out the pastry sheets to a longer, thinner rectangle on a lightly floured surface,
I simply spread a thin layer of the sauce with the back of a spoon onto the pastry, then sprinkled some Italian herb seasoning and garlic powder over the sauce.  After that, I sprinkled on the parmesan cheese.  I did take care to stay about an inch away from the edge of the pastry on the long side, so I could dampen the inside edges with a little water to prevent them from pulling away as they baked.

I carefully rolled the pastry sheets up into a log and placed them on a baking sheet and stuck them in the freezer for about 15 minutes so they would cut nicely.  I wasn't particular about the exact width of each slice when I cut them, I just tried to stay at about 3/4 of an inch. I brushed the tops with a wash of 1 egg and a little water - something I always do when baking puff pastry because it gives the surface a glossed finish for a nicer presentation.   I placed them on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray and baked them at 400 degrees for about 18 - 20 minutes, until they were nice and golden brown on top.

I could have heated up some of the left over sauce and used it for dipping, but I didn't think of that until it was too late.  Maybe next time.....

I'll be experimenting with pinwheels again, these were so good ... oh... and so easy!