Recipe Of The Week | Spinach, Mozzarella & Cheddar Cheese Christmas Tree | Acookingexperiment

With the cold winter days amidst us, this dish is sure to warm you up.
Spreading the Christmas spirit, why don’t you try and make this spinach and melted cheese shaped Christmas tree created from puff pastry. You can swap the fillings and design your own Christmas tree dishes following the recipe made for us by @acookingexperiment.

Ingredients:
2 x puff pastry sheets, chilled
100g of baby spinach, chopped
50g of mozzarella cheese, grated
50g of cheddar cheese, grated
50g of soft cheese, at room temperature
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
Handful of plain flour (only if required)
Flat leaf parsley (optional)
Cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)

Equipment:
Rolling pin
Star shaped cookie cutter (for the star on top of the tree)
Pastry brush

Method:
1. Mix together the spinach, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and all 3 cheeses in a bowl.
2. Cut two triangles in the puff pastry into a Christmas tree shape and leave the leftovers aside.
3. Ensure two pastry sheets are joined together to cut out either side to make a Christmas tree triangle shape. Once this is done, remove the top layer of the pastry sheet triangle so you can fill the spinach on top of the bottom one.
4. Start filling the spinach and cheese mixture onto the layer of the puff pastry, ensuring that there are gaps left on the sides so that it does not overfill.
5. Place the other triangle layer of puff pastry onto the top and pinch the sides shut.
6. If there are any gaps that need levelling out then you can roll it out with a rolling pin gently (plain flour may be useful here if needed).
7. Using a pizza cutter, cut the sides of the triangle which will form the Christmas tree branch shape.
8. Twist each branch for more of a tree looking effect. The bottom ones can be twisted a couple of times if you can whereas middle upwards can be twisted just once – be gentle when doing this.
9. Dip a brush into the beaten egg and gently brush it all over the tree.
10. Place in the oven at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until it is golden brown.

It’s ready to serve! You could add cherry tomatoes halved and sprinkle parsley for your tree decoration if you wish, or leave it as it is. Enjoy!

Note: Using the leftover pieces of puff pastry, you could use the star-shaped cookie cutter to cut two slices of puff pastry and stuff the stars with the rest of the spinach and cheese mixture!

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