Recipe: Cheese pastry twists

It's officially November which means Winter is fast approaching and dare I mention that Christmas is just around the corner. This time of year is always really busy, in a good way obviously! And if you're anything like me then your diary will already be full of dates to catch up with friends, have family over and enjoy dinner parties.

I'd like to share with you one of my favourite recipes for one of the yummiest pre-dinner nibbles you could possibly enjoy. Cheese pastry twists. Oh yes! These are just too good. I usually make lots of these to serve on a big plate to hand round with some drinks so that people can enjoy one or two whilst waiting for dinner to cook. I would be lying however if I told you I hadn't ever made them for Rob and I to enjoy by ourselves...

Anyway, they're dead easy to make and take no time at all but they look delicious so they're perfect for impressing your guests!

You will need:

2 x sheets puff pastry, ready rolled

Cheddar Cheese

Parmesan

Black pepper

1 x egg

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. 

Lay one of the sheets of puff pastry down on a baking sheet. Grate the cheddar cheese and Parmesan over it - you can add as much or as little as you want but I would advise covering the pastry with the cheese for really delicious, cheesy tasting pastries. Then sprinkle some black pepper on top. Place the second sheet of pastry on top of the other, so that you have a cheese pastry sandwich!

Cut the pastry vertically into long thin strips, about 3cm wide. You ideally need 6 or 7 sets of 3 strips. Then take three long strips and plait them together, gathering up the pastry at the top and bottom of each plait to ensure they don't fall apart and to secure them in place. You can add more grated cheese onto the top at this point if you like.

Then using a pastry brush, lightly brush the plaits with the egg mixture so that they are glazed. This will stop them from burning and give them a perfect golden crisp on the outside!

Pop them in the oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes, until nicely browned. Et voila... The pastry should have puffed up nicely and they should look vaguely like the ones below...!!

The beauty of these is that you can add whatever you want to them - black olives, sundried tomatoes, pancetta...

So scrummy!



Lydia xxx