Family Chow Hall

Italian Chicken Pastry

June 8th, 2006

The need to use some puff pastry dough in my freezer brought this idea on. I had no idea what to do with that puff pastry. I’d bought it originally to make a spinach breakfast quiche - used one sheet of the dough for it. However, my kids don’t like spinach quiche, so I didn’t want to make that again.

I hunted for ideas on the Pepperidge Farms site just for puff pastry and then thought up my own thing. Their site really has some good ideas, but I had certain ingredients I wanted to include, so I did my own thing.

We all really liked it — at the end of this post you can see how much we had leftover.

Here’s how I made it:

Italian Chicken Pastry
serves 6

3 chicken breast halves, butterflied
herb blend (see below)
2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 c. cottage cheese
1 egg
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 c. sliced black olives
1 sheet puff pastry dough
another egg, beaten with 1 T. water
basic spaghetti sauce

Rub the herb blend onto both sides of the chicken breasts and grill or fry in a little oil. I prefer to grill - the chicken is always more tender, you get a better flavor, and there are fewer dishes. When they’re done, set aside and let them cool a bit. Meanwhile, mix the cheese, egg, garlic powder, and black olives. A few mushrooms would be tasty in this, too. Now you can cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add it to the cheese mixture. Set that aside.

To prepare the puff pastry, flour a board (or your clean countertop) and roll into a rectangle of about 12 x 16 inches. Dump the chicken and cheese mixture onto half of it - starting with the short end. Roll it up, and pinch the end and the edges to seal. Place this on a jelly-roll pan or 9 x 13 baking dish.

Preheat your oven to 375. Beat the second egg and a little water, and brush this mixture onto the dough. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Allow it to cool a little, then slice.

Serve with warmed spaghetti sauce, if desired.

Mild Herb Blend for grilling chicken

1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1/2 t. thyme
1/2 t. dill
1/2 t. rosemary leaves
2 t. sugar
1 t. parsley flakes
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. onion powder

Leftovers (ha!)

Entry Filed under: Casseroles, Leftovers, Recipes, Supper, chicken