Cheesy Spinach Pinwheels

This is such an easy and fun appetizer! Once you’ve made it, you will not need a recipe again. It’s that simple. I got this recipe on the back of the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry box. I stuck pretty much to it, but amped up the ingredients: changed and added more cheese, more scallions, and added black pepper.

It literally takes under a half hour (once the spinach and puff pastry are thawed) to put together and bakes in 30 minutes. These pastries are light, flakey and the variations you could add to change-up the flavors are nearly endless.

Start by thawing the spinach. Once completely thawed, squeeze all of the water, handful by handful, out of the spinach. This is tedious, but necessary. You want the spinach to be very dry or your pinwheels will become soggy.

Next, remove one sheet of puff pastry and let this thaw at room temp for about 40 minutes or until easy to handle. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Lightly beat an egg with a Tbsp. of water. Grate the cheese. I used 3/4 cup Irish cheddar and 3/4 cup parmesan. The original calls for 1/2 cup Muenster or Monterey Jack and 1/4 cup parmesan. I wanted to make sure these were ooey gooey…and they were!

Unfold the pastry onto a floured surface. Remove the parchment paper, lightly flour the top of the pastry and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness and brush with the egg mixture. You can see I used my morning coffee cup to make the egg bath! Go Bucs! Although this year we have no team in particular. We’re just enjoying the football season!

Mix the cheeses with garlic and onion powder, and several grinds of black pepper. Top with one of the cheeses.

And then add the scallions. Next, add the totally wrung out spinach and add the last 3/4 cup grated cheese.

Now, time to (rock and) roll. Pepperidge Farm suggests starting from the short end, but that will make these pinwheels much too thick so I started rolling from the long side, just as you would with a jelly roll or roulade.

Use your fingers to push the filling back in as you roll. Puff pastry is very forgiving as the dough is tender and can stretch and it gives easily making the rolling pretty simple.

And here it is all rolled. Don’t worry if the ends are not perfect as those will be your sample bites. Cut into 1/2 inch slices and place on a baking sheet; either lightly oiled or covered with parchment paper. Brush the tops liberally with the last of the egg bath. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking. PF does not suggest this, but in my experience if you chill puff pastry before baking you get a better end result.

Pepperidge Farms suggests baking for 15 minutes or until golden. Mine took 30 minutes, but possibly because I added so much more cheese or maybe because I did 10 minutes in the fridge. In any case, you do not want to overcook, but they definitely need to be browned or will not be flakey.

So good. So easy. Can be served warm right out of the oven, or at room temperature. Both ways are delicious!

Perfect for Sunday Game-Day or a nice appetizer before any dinner party!

ENJOY!

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Cheesy Spinach Pinwheels

Light, flakey and ooey gooey all at the same time! Cheese and spinach are a marriage made in heaven!

Ingredients

• 1/2 Of a 17.3 oz. Pepperidge Farm pkg. Puff Pastry 1 sheet
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tbsp. Water
• 3/4 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated I always prefer Irish, but am partial. :-)
• 3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
• 1/4 cup Scallion, chopped, green parts only
• 1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. Onion powder
• Freshly ground black pepper, at least 6 grinds
• 1 10 oz. pkg. Frozen, chopped spinach, completely thawed and drained

Instructions

• Thaw spinach completely in a colander. Once thawed, using your hands, tightly squeeze all the water out of the spinach handful by handful. Keep breaking up the spinach to move it around and ensure that all the water is completely out.
• Thaw the puff pastry at room temp for about 40 minutes or until easy to handle.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
• Grate 3/4 cup cheddar and 3/4 cup parmesan cheese. Add garlic and onion powder to the cheese along with the freshly grated black pepper.
• Lightly beat the egg with 1 Tbsp. water.
• Unfold the thawed pastry onto a lightly floured surface, lightly flour the top, and gently roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Brush with the egg wash.
• Next top with one of the cheeses and 1/4 cup of the scallions.
• Sprinkle on the spinach and the last 3/4 cup of cheese.
• Starting at the long side, roll the pastry into a fairly tight roll, using your fingers to push the filling back in as you roll.
• Cut into 1/2 inch pieces and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush liberally with the last of the egg wash (use it all) and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
• Bake for 30 minutes (check at 25 to make sure it's not getting too browned) and once golden remove from the oven to cool.
• Serve either warm right from the oven or also delicious at room temperature.