Recipe: Pizza Pinwheels, Hors d'oeuvres perfect for New Year's Eve

Big wheels keep on turning

Friends of ours invited us to their beautiful barn conversion in the Essex countryside. I had enthusiastically promised I would bring an appetiser having spied a blogging opportunity and of course because we love cooking. We were due to leave at 2pm and at 12:30pm we were still glumly starring at a packet of puff pastry. Then inspiration struck.  Pizza pin wheels.  We used ingredients you will find in your pantry and fridge. Bearing in mind that you can buy similar snacks to these in Waitrose for around £4, you can make these for a fraction of the cost!  As always, at Wennie's Affairs, we encourage you to have fun and be inventive. You can experiment with a whole variety of fillings as you would on a pizza; spinach and ricotta, chicken tikka, mexican ground chilli.  Plus you can even make dessert varieties with left over sweet mince meat (which never made it into those mince pies) and drizzled with icing. They are perfect for a New Year's Eve gathering. 

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of puff pastry
• 3 tbsp pesto 
• 1/3 Yellow Pepper
• 3 small tomatoes
• 100g prosciutto ham
• 60g Parmesan cheese
• Milk for brushing
• 2 tsp Dried oregano
• Black pepper

Method:

1. Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface.
2. Brush the pesto evenly over the rolled out pastry.
3. Remove the seeds from the tomato (very important to avoid excess moisture) and finely chop with the pepper and spread on top of the pesto layer.
4. Chop up the ham and evenly distribute over the the peppers and tomatoes.
5. Sprinkle three quarters of the grated parmesan cheese over the ham and grind over some black pepper as the final layer.
6. Starting from one of the short edges roll the pastry up as tightly as you can until it becomes a long roll.
7. Use a sharp knife to cut about 16 discs about 1cm thick and lay out evenly onto a non-stick baking sheet allowing enough room for them to puff up.
8. Preheat the oven to 190C or gas Mark 5. 
9. Leave in the fridge for 20 minutes.
10. Brush the top-side of the wheels with the milk mixed with oregano and the remainder of the Parmesan cheese.  Cook for 20 minutes until golden.

The mixture can be prepared in advance the night before baking and then the rest of method will take less than 10 minutes.

They are a lovely herby and peppery amuse bouche.  Our friend Claire, popped them in the oven for 5 minutes to heat.  We then washed these little treats down with Champagne- our friends know how to look after us.    

Related posts:

• Recipe: Parmesan Shortbread Canapes With a Selection of Cheese Toppings
• Recipe: 3 Way Pork Eastern Dim Sum Hors d’Oeuvres
• Recipe: Jamaican Inspired Spicy Lamb and Sweet Potato Patties (Empanadas)

Recipe: Parmesan Shortbread Canapes With a Selection of Cheese Toppings

Long bread to the short bread, word is bond

Three varieties of toppings from left to right: Pesto gouda with piece of tomato, goats cheese and onion marmalade, mozzarella , tomato and basil

Yummy cheesy bite-sized parmesan biscuits.  We made these mozzarella and cherry tomato shortbread biscuits about five years ago for one of our dinner parties and thought we would resurrect them tonight and add a a few more varieties of topping.  If you are intrigued by the leafy green cheese, it is pesto gouda from Amsterdam.  It was amazing and perfect with the parmesan.  The caramelised red onion jam was adapted from a recipe on The Complete Cook Book Blog by Mandy Frielinghaus.  Thanks Mandy it was great! 

These little mouthfuls of joy are great as the dough can be prepared up to twenty-four hours in advance of your gathering.  You can also let your imagination run wild on toppings.  These pair well with champagne, especially the mozzarella.

Shortbread ingredients (makes about 40)

• 115g plain white flour
• 100g unsalted butter, diced
• 85g grated parmesan cheese
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• Extra flour for dusting

To make the shortbread

1. Sift the flour into a bowl with the butter and mix with your hands
2. When the mixture gets to a bread crumb consistency, add the cheese, salt and cayenne and continue mixing with your hands
3. When the mixture has combined, dust a surface with flour and roll the dough into a ball.
4. Cover the dough with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least an hour
5. Remove the dough and roll into a sheet about 1/2cm thick
6. Use a small cookie cutter to cut out the individual short breads and place onto a baking sheet lined with grease proof paper
7. Return the uncooked shortbread into the fridge for a further 30 minutes to an hour.
8. Preheat the oven to 170C or gas mark 5 and place the biscuits in to cook for 10 to 12 minutes until they are an even golden colour

Onion marmalade ingredients

• 2 medium red onions
• 1 bay leaf
• 2/3 cup of sherry vinegar
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 125g soft brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• A dash of Worcester sauce

To make the Onion Marmalade

1. Peel and thinly slice the onions.
2. Combine all the ingredients into a sauce pan, stir together and heat until it starts to boil.
3. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
4. Leave to cool, transfer to a jar and keep in the fridge.

Recipe: Jamaican Inspired Spicy Lamb and Sweet Potato Patties (Empanadas)

The girl from empanada

As part of our series on Christmas parties, we were have been blogging about our preparation. We mentioned that some foods can be prepared in advance to try and ease meltdown on the day. Taking our own advice, Keith made these wonderful canapes, which can be easily warmed in the oven on the day. We have been privileged to have holidayed in the Caribbean a few time and these spicy snacks are inspired from our travels. 

Makes about 30 patties

Dough Ingredients

• 300g cream cheesean
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 600g plain flour
• 300 wholemeal flour
• 120g semolina

Filling Ingredients

• 500g lean lamb mince
• 1 sweet potato (200g) peeled and grated
• 1 large red pepper de-seeded and finely chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• Cooking spray
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp Worcester sauce

Dough Method

1. Sift flours together into a large mixing bowl
2. Add cumin seeds and semolina
3. Rub together with cream cheese until it is all mixed
4. Pour in 360ml of warm water and combine the mixture with your hands to make a ball of dough
5. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 3 minutes.
6. Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for half an hour

Filling Method

1. Heat a pan and add the mince. Cook until browned.
2. Drain any excess liquid from the mince and set to one side
3. Return the pan to the heat and add the cooking spray.
4. Fry the onion, pepper and sweet potato together until soft.
5. Add curry powder and Worcester sauce.
6. Add the cooked mince, season and stir well.
7. Let the mixture cook on a medium heat for seven minutes stirring occasionally to avoid burning.
8. Roll half the dough onto a surface until it is about 4mm thick.
9. Cut the rolled dough with a 6cm cutter
10. Roll each disc a little and place a heaped tablespoon full of the filler in the centre.
11. Brush the edge with milk, fold in half and seal with a fork. Use a skewer to prick two holes in the top to allow venting.
12. Repeat with the rest and bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 190C for 25 minutes.