‘Tis the season of homemade food and trying your hands at new recipes, isn’t it?! I’ve been baking even more than usual lately, between the several Christmas cookies testing (totally necessary, right?) and all the Holiday dinners that somehow need to be prepared.

If there’s one thing I can always rely on, those are homemade veggie pasties, great as appetizer but also as a main dish. Add Camembert (because why not to) and not only you’ll be left with the creamiest savory filling, but you’ll also surely meet with approval from any guests! I’ve served these pasties during a couple of dinners on the recent Holidays and anyone seemed to love them, with their friendly shapes and delicious combination of flavours!

Print

Veggie + Camembert Pasties

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Serving Size: 5-6 pasties

Ingredients

• 3 red, green and yellow peppers
• 2 medium courgettes
• 1 golden onion
• 3 knobs of butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• A pinch of pepper, nutmeg, chilly
• 2 puff pastry rolls
• Camembert for the filling

Instructions

1 :: Start by finely chopping your onion and placing it into a very large and nicely deep frying pan together with the butter. Pan fry the onion until it becomes slightly golden.

2 :: In the meanwhile chop the vegetables into little squares and then add them to the butter and onion. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and chilly and give the mixture a nice stir.

3 :: Let the vegetables pan fry for a couple of minutes, then add a couple of glasses of water. This will prevent them from burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan and will allow them to cook evenly.

4 :: Cook the vegetables for 20-30 minutes until the water is all evaporated and the veggies are soft.

5 :: Roll out the puff pastry dough (make sure to keep it in the fridge until you actually need it!) and, using a large round cookie cutter (or even just a mug or bowl) cut 5-6 round shapes from the first dough. Place them into small buttered pie oven dishes.

6 :: Use a fork to riddle the pasty bases. Cut 3 thin slices of Camembert (or Brie) per pasty, and place them into your bases, then cover everything with a thick layer of your pre-cooked vegetables.

7 :: Cut the other pastry dough with the same cookie cutter as before, then open a hole in the middle using a small star-shaped cutter. Place them on top of your pie dishes and remove the excess. Optionally brush some egg white on top to obtain some extra golden pasties tops.

8 :: Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until your pasties turn a nice golden brown, then remove from the oven and leave them cool down completely in their pie dishes before placing them on a nice dish and serving!

3.1

http://www.miel-cafe.com/2015/12/veggie-camembert-pasties.html

No more sleeps to go! Today is the day.

Hopefully you won’t be reading this post today, and instead will be thinking of getting all things nice and ready to celebrate Christmas day, enjoying all the food and the company, unwrapping your well-deserved Christmas presents, spending your time with your loved ones, and then eating your weight in food once again. Because it’s Christmas and that’s what it’s supposed to look like. Or at least I hope you’re between the lucky ones who can have a merry little Christmas for themselves.

It’s strange to think things haven’t really changed that much in a year, yet Christmas is always such a precious time and it doesn’t matter how stressful the journey is, I always enjoy this time. And all the food too. Hope you can do the same this Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone from our little family to yours!

I like handmade things. Handmade gifts especially. Every Christmas I feel like between the many gifts I buy for others, the ones I create with my own hands are the most special and most appreciated. I’ve been putting together a cookies mix in a jar to give as gift to my favourite people the last few Christmasses – just a fun way to share my favourite recipes with them, but this year I thought I’d change things up a bit and have put together a bit of a different couple of handmade gift ideas!

These are great if you’re after a last minute DIY gift idea, or are planning to go for something made with your own hands this year! They both only require simple, easy to trace down, natural ingredients and make for festive little gifts perfect for wintertime!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients ::
2 teaspoons grated hot chocolate
1 teaspoon white flour
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
Smashed peppermint candy canes

Place the ingredients in the previous proportions in a small 150ml jar repeating the same doses until the jar is full, then smash the candy canes and add them to the jar as well. Use a small teaspoon to stir all the ingredients together into the jar so that they’re all well combined. Download the labels here (or write them yourself!) and tie one of them to the jar with your red and white twine!

Rosemary + Lemon Sea Salt Body Scrub

Adapted from The Simple Things‘ body scrub recipe.

Ingredients ::
450g coarse salt
juice of 2 lemons
7-8 tablespoons olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Measure out the salt in a small bowl, add the olive oil and lemon juice, then grate the zest of 1 lemon and chop the rosemary leaves. Mix all the ingredients together until nicely combined. Spoon into small 150ml jars until full, then seal the lid and add a hand-written gift tag tied with your red and white twine. Suggest to keep in the fridge on the back of the gift tag!

Homemade Hazelnut Brittle Sachets

Ingredients ::
Follow my recipe here

Brittle is extremely quick and easy to prepare! Follow my recipe here, then cut little squares of parchment paper and place each brittle piece between two foils, then pile them up, so that the singular pieces don’t stick together. Place them into transparent food sachets and tie with a red bow, add a small gift tag, and you’re done!

***