Cmac's Test Kitchen

These delicious spirals have a soft but toasty feeling, and a taste you can’t forget. The filling is a bit more technical but well worth the work in the end. As I mentioned I am looking for a name for this little snack so just post a comment at the end of this post with your idea for a name and if you’re the lucky pick at the end you can win 3 hors d’oeuvre platters and 2 coupons for free cans of Pillsbury Crescents. Now onto the recipe.

What you need:

3 sweet peppers (red, yellow, orange)

2 TBL of pine nuts

1/2 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

2 TBL capers + 1 TBS of liquid from capers

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 can of Pillsbury seamless pastry

1/4 cup re-hydrated sun dried tomatoes (I used cherry but any will do)

In advance:

1. Place your washed peppers on a broiling pan and brush with olive oil, broil until top is slightly blackened, then turn over and do the same to the other side. Remove the peppers and allow to slightly cool. Now place peppers in a sealed Ziploc freezer bag and let rest on a cooling rack to sweat.
2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel and wash your onion half and garlic cloves, place in heavy duty foil then top with 1 TBL of margarine. Wrap and bake  for 10-20 minutes to slightly roast. Transfer to cooling rack and let sit for atleast 10 minutes in foil.
3. While your onion is roasting in an un-greased pan gently toast your pine nuts until slightly golden and a small black dot shows on the tops.

The Finishing Touches:

1. Remove your peppers from the Ziploc bag and gently peel off the skin, then cut in half wash out the seeds and remove the stems. Now cut into medium size pieces and place in your blender.
2. Remove the onion and garlic from the foil and poor the margarine into the blender then cut the onion into medium pieces and toss in your blender along with the garlic cloves.
3. To your blender add the toasted pine nuts, capers, caper juice, sun dried tomatoes, and smoked paprika.
4. Blend until you achieve a smooth puree.
5. Roll out your Pillsbury pastry and divide in two so you have 2 large equal sized squares. Now spread your mixture evenly at about a thickness of 1/8 inch. Be sure to leave 3/4 of an inch un-coated all around the edges.
6. Slowly and gently roll back the pastry into a jelly roll and gently press the un-coated ends to make a seal. Once both sheets are coated and rolled back up transfer to parchment paper, gently wrap, and place in your freezer for 30-40 minutes.
7. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, remove rolls from freezer to a cutting board. Now cut  the rolls into half inch pieces and lay out flat on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet, leaving 1 inch of space between each spiral. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until golden and puffy.
8. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes but serve warm.

Enjoy.

*All information pertaining to the Pillsbury product, prize pack and give away were courtesy of Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark*