Callaloo Puff Pastries

Today I bring you Callaloo Puff Pastries! These puff pastries are so easy to make and are perfect as an appetizer or snack! They are made with puff pastry dough that’s been filled with greens, cheese, and onions and baked to perfection. Save this recipe now, because I guarantee you’ll be coming back to it over and over again!

Ya’ll, I’m actually really proud of these callaloo puff pastries. But I also realize many of you may have no idea what callaloo even is! So I digress. Callaloo is a type of leafy green that is very common in Jamaica. It’s pretty hard to come by in America, but fresh spinach is a great substitute. Just don’t try to use kale or collard greens… my family and I learned that the hard way. Callaloo is traditionally eaten stems/stalks and call, but trust me, kale stalks (or even worse, chard stalks!) are sooo NOT tasty. Nope, don’t do it.

Okay back to the recipe! For the filling, just chop up fresh callaloo (or spinach 🙂 and make sure to include the stems!), and saute them with some chopped red onion and thyme. Once the greens are cooked, stir in smoked cheddar cheese and season with salt and pepper. Simplest filling EVER.

Now the crust was a bit of an adventure. I started out thinking I wanted to make callaloo patties (hey, I’m Jamaican, couldn’t help myself! Its patties or nothing lol). But my scratch made dough recipe still needs some work (I can’t seem to get the color or consistency right…if you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments below!).  While I continue to work on the dough, I thought it would be a real waste to throw away the awesome filling I came up with. That’s when a light went off! My mom and I are going on a mother-daughter trip to France and that made me think of puff pastry dough (well really, it made be thing of croissants, but same difference!).  Puff pastry dough is flaky, buttery, versatile, and best of all, it is PREMADE! Now, I’m usually all for making things from scratch, but some times, the struggle is just not worth it. Unless I can get my hands on the same butter, milk, and eggs they have in Europe, even my homemade dough won’t taste anything like the ones in France, so a girl might as well take a few shortcuts, right?!

But don’t be fooled, this recipe does not cut any corners when it comes to flavor. The puff pastry dough transforms this recipe into a light, airy appetizer instead of the full on entree we would have had if we’d used a different kind of dough. It is so delicious!

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If you make this recipe, be sure to let me know by rating it and leaving a comment below. I would love to hear from you. And don’t forget to tag #sweetandsorrel on Instagram!

But that’s enough talking, go ahead and try these pastries right now. If you need any more encouragement, just know that I was in and out of my kitchen in less time than it took me to write this post, so I promise this recipe will not take long to make (or eat!).

Ingredients

• 4 cups of fresh callaloo (or spinach), chopped with stems
• 1 cup of smoked cheddar cheese (or your favorite creamy cheese), shredded
• 1 package of frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 3-4 sprigs of thyme
• 1/4 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 egg (for egg wash)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add chopped onions and cook until the onions become translucent, about 2 minutes. Next, add the chopped callaloo/spinach and continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes.
3. Once the callaloo/spinach is wilted, remove the pan from the heat. Be careful not to let the callaloo/spinach cook for too long or it will start to release some of its moisture. Stir in the cheese and thyme, then season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg and set aside. Remove the puff pastry dough from package and let it thaw. Keep the dough cold to make it easy to work with. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough, and cut into 8 equal sized squares (or be fun and cut into circles, rectangles etc). Spoon some of the spinach/cheese mixture onto half of the squares, leaving about 1/2 in of space on each side. Brush the edges of the pastry dough with the egg wash and top with another piece of dough. Use a fork to crimp the edges. Cut a small hole in the top of the pastries to release any steam. Then brush the top with more egg wash. Sprinkle some more salt and pepper.
5. Transfer the pastries to a lined baking sheet. Bake the pastries for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and serve immediately.

*makes 4 pastries