Lamb & Spinach Puff Pockets
Last Saturday I picked up some mild lamb sausage from one of the local meat farmers. I have never really cooked with lamb sausage before, so what a whipped up last night was a bit of an experiment. However, it turned out so delicious I thought I should post the recipe.
Lamb & Spinach Puff Pockets
The name “puff pockets” come from the fact that my husband compared them to hot pockets (but better) and they use puff pastry dough.
- Puff pastry usually comes in frozen sheets. You will need to thaw the dough before you can use it. To do this, just leave the puff pastry out on the counter for 1-2 hours before you intend to start. Or the night before you want to use it, move the dough out of the freezer and into the fridge.
- Before you start making the lamb and spinach stuffing, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- The quantities of this stuff recipe make enough to stuff 8 pockets with some left over to do other things with (see below). Brown 1 lbs of lamb sausage. When sausage is almost done add 1 onion diced, 1 lbs of frozen spinach, 1/4 cup sherry, salt and pepper to taste. Let most of the sherry boil off.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard, 1 cup of Hellman’s or Best Food’s mayonnaise, a hand full of fresh basil (chopped), and salt and pepper to taste.
- Carefully unfold the puff pastry dough. Cut each sheet into quarters (each will make 4 squares totaling to 8 squares). Smear some of the Dijon sauce in the center of each square. Next, place enough sausage mix in the middle of each square so that it is full the the corners, when pulled up, can still touch. Then, gather each of the four corners, pinch them together, and then push a toothpick through them to hold them together. Place each puff pocket on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Whisk together an egg white with a teaspoon of milk. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the tops of the pastry puff pockets. This will help them turn golden brown and delicious.
- Bake until golden brown. I believe this was about 20 minutes (but I wasn’t watching the clock to closely last night). Just keep an eye on them, when they look golden and delicious they are done.
- Serve while hot. Any extra Dijon sauce can be served with them as an extra topping. If you don’t eat them all, save them for lunch the next day. Yum!