Puff Pastry Sheets….who knew you could do so much with puff pastry sheets?

We get together about once a month the play cards with our friends. Usually when we’re playing cards, we end up putting out chips, dip, pretzels, that kind of thing. Because I got bored with that, I stumbled on Puff Pastry. They’ve been around for years, not sure why I never picked them up before.

Puff Pastry is made up of dozens of flaky layers so it’s light and airy. They can be found in the freezer section of the supermarket. I believe it’s near the frozen cakes, pies, things like that. The only brand I’ve ever seen in our supermarket is Pepperidge Farm so that is what I buy. The Puff Pastry is pre-rolled into sheets, come two to a box and thaw quickly. Once I found these, I was hooked. I keep a couple of boxes in the freezer at all times. I’ve made turnovers, tarts, cheese Danish and even used it for the crust of my Quiche instead of pie crust.

My most recent venture was using them to make what I call Pepperoni Elephant Ears. I only used three ingredients (all from my pantry), made them ahead and frozen them until I was ready to serve.

They not only looked impressive (like I worked all day), they were delicious. Make up your own recipe using Puff Pastry like I did. Next time I’m going to try them with Italian Sausage. Enjoy!

Pepperoni Elephant Ear Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 8 ounce package sliced pepperoni, I like Hormel Original brand, you will use most package, and the rest is for snacking
• 1 2 cup package shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 puff pastry sheets, thawed, I use Pepperidge Farm brand
• Flour to sprinkle on cutting board

Steps:

1. Sprinkle flour on cutting board
2. Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet to 12 x 12
3. About an inch from each side, overlap pepperoni slices down each side of pastry
4. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pepperoni
5. Starting at the right side of the pastry sheet, fold the 1 inch border over half of the pepperoni
   
6. Then making sure to encompass all the pepperoni on that side of the sheet, fold over again all the way to the center of the sheet
7. Repeat step above on the left side of the sheet
8. Lastly fold over left side again, like closing a book
9. Place on cookie sheet that has been lined with wax or parchment paper and then follow directions above for second puff pastry
10. When done put both pastry puffs in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes
    
11. Take out of the refrigerator and cut pepperoni roll into ½ inch slices.
12. Place cut slices on the cookie sheet and freeze for about an hour
13. Once frozen, place slices in zip lock bags and store until needed
14. When ready to serve, preheat oven to 375 degrees F, place slices on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes or until ears (yes, they really look like elephant ears) are golden brown and cheese is bubbling.
    
    Visit Behind the Pantry Door Store.
    
    Source: Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry