Pecorino Palmiers

 

Last week, I was trying to figure out what appetizers to make for a dinner party. when I went to Simply Recipes and saw the recipe for classic french palmiers, which turn out to be incredibly easy!  Needless to say, I was shocked -- I've always thought of these delicate little cookies as fussy and complicated and would never, in a million years, have thought to make them myself.

But I was so completely wrong.  Thanks to the miracle of frozen puff pastry (it really is great stuff), these take about half an hour or less to make.  And this is another recipe where your friends won't be able to believe you made them yourself.  I promise.  In fact, I'm not sure my friends actually *did* ever believe that I'd made them myself.

This recipe has two really big factors going for it.  First, it's incredibly simple.  That is a very good thing when you are having a dinner party on a weeknight and trying to find an appetizer that you can get onto the table before your guests arrive!  Second, it's so versatile.  Obviously, you've seen these before as a sweet cookie, with sugar filling.  But you could add pesto, olive tapenade, sundried tomatoes, chopped nuts and honey, or even minced mushrooms as other savory fillings.  I liked the simplicity, and the one-color effect of the pecorino cheese, so I kept that as the only filling, but it took some serious restraint on my part.  There are really so many possibilities.

Pecorino Palmiers

INGREDIENTS:

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 1/2 cups grated pecorino cheese

Olive oil, for brushing

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Roll out puff pastry into about a 10" by 12" rectangle.

3. Brush puff pastry lightly with olive oil. Spread grated cheese over the entire sheet.

4. Starting at one side, roll the puff pastry halfway to the center. Repeat with the other side until the two rolls meets at the center.

5. Slice the log into 1/4" pieces. Place 1-2 inches apart on a baking sheet, and bake for about 12 minutes, or until starting to brown. Serve.

Makes about two dozen small palmiers. Can easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled... you get the picture.