Light and airy, mouth-watering and hearty - puff pastries are different. Despite the various cooking options, novice cooks can cope with this dish.
Which dough to choose
Puff pastry for making pies can be purchased ready-made, trusting the manufacturer and saving time. However, in such cases, the result does not always meet expectations, so it is better to make the dough yourself, taking into account all individual preferences and choosing the highest quality products. At the same time, you can make a reserve for freezing and, if necessary, in the future, quickly bake delicious pies with minimal costs. You can store semi-finished products of your own design in the freezer, then the dish can be prepared in a matter of minutes.
Depending on the shape and filling, yeast or yeast-free puff pastry is used. For sweet pies, for example, with cottage cheese, apples or jam, the first option is better suited - products made from such a dough will turn out fluffy and soft at the same time. But at the same time, their layers are not too pronounced.
For those who carefully calculate calories, it is better to opt for yeast dough. The fact is that less butter or fats replacing it are put in it, because it rises in the oven thanks to yeast and a special technology for forming a layer.
Dough without adding yeast is recommended for baking tongues and other products without filling, often croissants, etc. are made from it. However, empirically, you can find the ideal option in which your favorite filling will be best combined with this or that dough.
How to make puff pastry at home
Puff pastry is based on flour and butter. Many housewives prefer to cook puff pastries "from scratch" so as not to miss margarine and other butter substitutes on their table. Various types of semi-finished products are now widely represented on store shelves, but very rarely they really include butter. Frozen dough manufacturers often use them to reduce the cost of the product, which is why the price is often so tempting.
Recipe:
- wheat flour - 0.5 kg;
- butter - 100 g;
- water - 200-250 ml;
- salt - 1 teaspoon;
- chicken egg - 1 pc.
Before kneading the dough, you need to remove the butter from the refrigerator so that it has time to soften a little and become room temperature. By mixing flour with water and an egg, adding a little salt, it is necessary to achieve the consistency of dumplings. Having received a voluminous ball, you need to leave it for a while, covered with a napkin or kitchen towel. Having rolled out the rested dough, butter cut into pieces (the size of a tablespoon) is laid out in the middle.
After distributing the soft butter over the surface of the dough, it is necessary to form a kind of "envelope" by wrapping the lateral, lower and upper sides of the layer towards the center. As a result, the butter turns out to be hidden inside, there it should remain in the process of further rolling the dough.
Gently smoothing the top layer with your hands, the resulting dough is folded in half and gently rolled out. Then all the manipulations are repeated over and over again. The more effort and time will be spent on this process, the tastier and more spectacular the pies will be. When baking, they will have a good distinction between the numerous layers, and the oil soaked in them will make the pies melt in your mouth.
After a while, the resulting lump of dough should be put in the refrigerator for a quarter of an hour. After the butter “grasps”, the dough is rolled out again, periodically folding it with an envelope to form layers. In principle, it is permissible to simply fold the layer in half and knead it again thoroughly. It is important to ensure that the softened oil does not start to flow out.
When rolling out yeast dough, you should be very careful, because it is very soft and tender. If you overdo it with pressure, and the oil is too hard, the formation can break through. Conversely, excessively soft butter or margarine will be difficult to keep inside the formation - it can easily leak out. Baking from such a dough requires more skill; inexperienced cooks should first try their hand at products made from unleavened dough.
Having finished working with the dough, you need to return it to the refrigerator and focus on the filling. After that. As the pies are formed, some put them back in the cold for a while - it is believed that the products will be airier as a result, and the oil will saturate the layers better. However, this may slightly increase the baking time.
Baking and frying mode
Puff pastry products, given their structure, are baked quite quickly. Therefore, the filling, especially if it includes meat, chicken, fish and eggs, must be heat treated in advance. As a result, in the oven or in a frying pan, the contents of the pies will only "reach" the desired state.
At a temperature of 190 degrees, a quarter of an hour will be enough for pies. Of course, the filling and the size of the product matter, as well as individual preferences - someone likes ruddy pies, well fried. Others try to get pastries early, without waiting for too dark shades of dough, as soon as the pies rise and become a pleasant golden color. The aroma that begins to spread from the oven also informs about the readiness of the dish, which means that very soon the food can be served on the table.
Shortly before the end of the time, the top of the products can be greased with egg white, then their crust will be appetizingly browned. Before serving, some grease baked goods with melted butter (a goose feather or a special brush is suitable for this). As a result, the pies will acquire a pleasant shine and become even more flavorful.
Suitable for making puff pastries and a frying pan. The dish can be fried in butter or vegetable oil (depending on the filling), turning it alternately as it cooks. With this method, the products should be laid out on a napkin or paper towel before serving to remove excess fat. Only then are the pies transferred to a plate.
When deep-fried, the pies are very airy and even more crispy, but their calorie content also significantly increases.
What are the fillings
Many puff pastry recipes can be divided into two large groups - sweet and savory. which may include:
- meat (pieces or minced meat);
- chicken and its offal (chicken liver);
- sausages (sausage, ham, sausages);
- fish (fresh or canned);
- cheese and cottage cheese;
- vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, etc.).
The above products can be successfully combined while pursuing new flavors and culinary experiences. For example, a sausage familiar to many from school years in the dough has acquired a new look - now it is called "student". In addition to the meat filling, mashed potatoes and sometimes even cheese are hidden in such a puff. The dish turns out to be very high in calories and can really please those who, because of their studies, live in a tight schedule.
Cabbage goes well with minced meat and meat products. Chicken can be combined with mushrooms or potatoes, and fish with rice and onions. There are many options, and many are fairly easy to prepare and quite economical to prepare.
Many housewives often prepare puff pastries or fish pies. Fresh fish must be pre-processed for this, while products with canned fish are extremely simple to perform. Indeed, you just need to open the jar and mix its contents (with the exception of liquid) with rice and spices boiled until half cooked.
The so-called closed pizza will help to diversify the home table and at the same time solve the problem with the leftovers of lunch or breakfast. For its filling, you can use vegetables, meat products, and of course a piece of cheese lying around in the refrigerator, which is already a little dry and is not suitable for a sandwich.
Suitable for filling and chicken liver, which must first be slightly simmered or fried. To taste - add finely chopped onions and carrots, spices at this time. The consistency of the filling can be different - from small pieces to a paste-like texture. You can mix the liver with a small amount of cooked until half-cooked rice or boiled potatoes with spices and fresh herbs (dill, parsley, etc.)
In recent years, samsa has become increasingly popular. At home, this dish, which originated in the countries of Central Asia, can be cooked as you like, without doubting the quality of the products. The shape and filling of samsa are quite varied and have many variations. The main thing is only puff pastry and meat filling. For such baking, both finely chopped meat and minced meat, which are pre-fried with onions and spices, are suitable. Some recipes also include potatoes. Boiled until half cooked, it combines with the meat mixture and becomes a filling filling for easy-to-make puff pastries.
Fruit and vegetable fillings
Puff pastries are a great way to diversify your table during the fall harvest. Apples cut into thin slices, carrot and pumpkin puree, zucchini with added sugar and lemon or orange peel, potatoes with aromatic fresh herbs, cabbage cooked in various ways and with different additives - these are just a few of the many options that can be easily done during this period. whip up.
Finely chopped (preferably chopped) cabbage is seasoned with a small amount of vegetable or butter. After it has reduced in volume, add eggs or egg-milk mixture, immediately stirring vigorously. You can add fresh herbs and spices to taste. When preparing the filling, do not forget that it will still "reach" when baking, so you do not need to simmer it for too long, so as not to lose the vegetable texture.
The carrot filling is tender and healthy. Medium-sized root vegetables need to be peeled and boiled, and then mashed in mashed potatoes. Some people like to add a finely chopped boiled egg, but even without it, it turns out very tasty. Serve these pies hot with butter.
Of particular note are the savory pastries with cottage cheese. For such puff pastries, the filling is prepared with fresh herbs and spices; cheese is also suitable as an addition.
Creative puff pastry
Recently, open cakes with various slices (ham, bacon, cheese) have become more and more popular, which are laid out in a different order on a layer of dough. Then it is folded and cut. When baked, the filling melts, connecting and fixing the layers, and the products are obtained in the most bizarre shape.
You can also cook them in portions - by cutting the dough into squares or rectangles, lay a slice of, for example, boiled sausage on top. Having rolled it into a cylinder and placed in a mold, after fifteen to twenty minutes you can expect something similar to an edible rose. There are simply no boundaries for imagination in this business, so such creative baking can be an excellent option for spending time with children. At the same time, little cooks will not only gain valuable skills, but also try to embody bold ideas.
Puff pastry sweet pies
Among the fillers for such products are:
- fresh fruits and berries (apples, pears, apricots, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.);
- preserves, marmalades, jams and confitures;
- cottage cheese with various additions (vanilla sugar, sour cream);
- dried fruits, whole or crushed (dried apricots, prunes, raisins - together and separately, as well as with the addition of nuts).
If the filling is too liquid and there is a risk of leakage in the oven, you can use a little starch to thicken it. Jam or jam will become denser when baked if you add a small amount of natural thickener - finely grated apple. This will not particularly affect the taste, and the filling will eventually become denser and stay inside the product.
The apple slices can be lightly drizzled with lemon juice to prevent browning during baking. For products with such a filling, cinnamon is also excellent, the taste of which goes well with an apple.
Cottage cheese fillings
There are also many fans of baked goods with curd filling, which combines not only a delicate taste, but also useful properties. When using such a filler, the curd can be pre-crushed. Add sour cream depending on the dryness and fat content of the product. In addition to sugar and vanilla, cottage cheese goes well with lemon or orange zest, chocolate, dried fruits (they must first be washed and soaked in boiling water or freshly brewed tea).
