Vegetables and Cheese Stuffed Puff Pastry

Veg Puffs

Its that time of the week when I am most excited to cook.. Friday! 

Oh! This week has been hectic. Which week isn't, right? Anyways, let me tell you about today's snack, a savory version of Strudel. You guys might have read about the Indian style Baked Veggie Puffs, Egg Puffs earlier. If you like cheese, you must give this stuffed pastry a try.

Ingredients:
Pastry Sheets - 2
Green Beans - 1/2 cup
Carrots - 1/2 cup
Green Peas - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 cup
Garlic - 2 big cloves
Pizza Seasoning - 1 tsp
Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper Jack Cheese - about 3/4 cup
Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp
Egg - 1
Salt

How to bake Veggies and Cheese stuffed Pastry Strudel:

• Thaw the pastry sheets overnight or as written on the package. 
• Finely chop onions, garlic, green beans and carrots. You can use any veggies which go well with cheese, like bell peppers, cauliflower etc.

Veggies for Puff Pastry

• Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and garlic. Sauté until onions soften. Add chopped green beans, carrots and green peas. Saute for a couple minutes and add pizza seasoning, salt, chili powder and fresh ground black pepper. Saute for another minute or so and your veggie stuffing is done. I like the veggies slightly crunchy. Cook it longer if you want the veggies soft. Let the stuffing cool.
• Instead of pizza seasoning, you can use dry Italian seasoning or some fresh herbs as well.

Cooked Veggies

• Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and grease the foil with oil or cooking spray or butter. For egg wash, crack the egg in a bowl. Add 1 tbsp water and beat it well. Set it aside for later.
• Dust some flour on the chopping board or work surface. Place the floured pastry sheet side down. Cut each pastry sheet into 4 parts. Add about 1 - 2 tbsp of the veggie stuffing in the center of each, followed by 1 - 2 tbsp grated cheese. Carefully fold each one and seal the edges with your finger tips. Apply few drops of water to the edges while folding, if required. Press the edges with a fork.

Puff Pastry

• Instead of pepper jack cheese, you can use any other melting cheese of your choice. Parmesan cheese tastes good too with these veggies. Pastry strudel is generally made stuffing the whole pastry sheet and then rolling it. I prefer small individual pastries which I find easy to stuff.

Stuffed Puff Pastry

• Place the stuffed pastries on the greased baking tray. Brush each one with the egg wash. If you don't like eggs, brush the pastries with milk or butter for the brown color. Bake them at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes or until the pastries look golden brown.

Serve hot Vegetable Cheese Pastries with ketchup or a dip of your choice. Enjoy!