Mini apple turnovers! With puff pastry, apples, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, honey, and thyme. Perfect little appetizers for fall.
Ever have one ingredient that you have left over from something so you devise an entire recipe around it?
I had some gorgonzola cheese begging to be eaten, some puff pastry in the freezer, and my mother’s book club potluck event at our house coming up. Apples and walnuts we always have on hand.
Apples, walnuts, gorgonzola, thyme, and honey make up the filling of these mini-turnovers and let me tell you, this is a great combination!
Put the filling on a pizza, keep the apples fresh and make a gorgonzola version of Waldorf salad, or place it on a flour tortilla and roll it up and eat it as a wrap, whatever you do these ingredients belong together. Big hit at the book club too, nary a turnover was left.
Mini Apple Turnovers with Walnuts and Gorgonzola Recipe
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Makes 24 turnovers
If using prepared frozen puff pastry sheets, they need to be defrosted in the refrigerator at least 3 hours before using.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups peeled, cored, chopped apples (use a good cooking apple such as Jonagold, Pippin, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Gravenstein, Mcintosh)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 7-ounce prepared puff pastry sheets (total 14 ounces)
- 1 egg, beaten
Method
1 Pre-cook and chop apples: Place chopped apples in a bowl, microwave on high heat for 5 minutes until apples are cooked through. Remove from heat and let cool. Drain excess moisture.
Once cooled, chop further so that the pieces are between 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch square. (Note you can skip this step if you want; the main purpose is to get the apples to release some of their moisture before cooking into the pastry.)
2 Make stuffing: Combine apples, walnuts, gorgonzola, thyme and honey in a small bowl.
3 Cut and stuff puff pastry: Preheat oven to 400°F. Working with one puff pastry sheet at a time (leave the second one in the refrigerator until using it) roll out the pastry to a size of 9-inches by 12-inches.
Cut into 12 3×3-inch squares (a pizza slicer works great for this).
Paint 1/2-inch of border around each square with beaten egg (this will help the pastry seal).
Place a heaping teaspoon of the apple walnut mixture in the center of the squares.
Fold over the squares into a triangle shape, stretching the dough if necessary to cover the filling. Use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges.
Place triangles on a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet, with space between the triangles.
Chill for 5 minutes in the refrigerator before baking, or chill while you prepare the second puff pastry sheet.
4 Brush turnovers with egg wash: Whisk in a half teaspoon of water into the remaining beaten egg. Use a pastry brush to paint on the tops of the pastry triangles for a nice glaze.
5 Bake: Place in 400°F oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until nicely puffed up and lightly browned. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Serve either warm or at room temperature. Can be made several hours in advance.
