Cheese Twists.

I love a cheese twist. Buttery, flaky pastry. Sharp, salty cheese. What’s not to love? This super simple recipe uses shop-bought puff pastry that’s ready to roll, meaning you don’t have to spend hours creating this delicious party pleaser. I made these for my family over the Christmas holidays, and they certainly didn’t disappoint!

Time:

Preparation- 25 minutes

Cooking- 15 minutes

Total= 40 minutes

Makes: About 10 large twists

Ingredients:

1 x Jus-Roll puff pastry sheet, chilled

Lactose free strong cheddar cheese

Plain flour (for rolling)

1 x egg (for glazing)

Black pepper to taste

 

Instructions:

1. Remove the pastry from the fridge 15-20 minutes before rolling. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Line a large baking tray with grease proof paper or grease with butter and start setting up a workstation. I always use our kitchen table when working with pastry as the smooth wooden surface makes it easy to roll. Dust your desired surface with a little flour.
3. Finely grate about two large handfuls of cheddar into a bowl. The quantity doesn’t need to be overly precise and if you have grated cheese left over, you can sprinkle it on top of the twists once they’re rolled.
4. Using a lightly dusted rolling pin, gently roll out the pastry sheet. The pre-rolled sheets are pretty much good to go so don’t roll them too much, they’re already only a few millimetres thick. You just want to make the pastry a little more supple. Once you have a suitable rectangular-shaped sheet of dough, sprinkle enough cheese to fully cover ½ of the sheet- imagine the dough is like an open book which is facing you and cover half of the length of the dough.
5. Lightly compact the cheese down so that the dough is easier to work with. Next, sprinkle a little black pepper over the cheese.
6. Fold the plain half of the dough sideways over the cheese-covered half- imagine you’re closing a book. Using a rolling pin, roll the folded dough just enough to compact the layers together and secure the cheese.
7. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so that the longer sides are now parallel to you again. Now using a knife, slice the dough width ways (downwards) into roughly 2cm wide strips. You can use a ruler or straight-edged template the help you with the lines if you want!
8. Once all the dough is sliced and the edges are trimmed, beat an egg in a bowl for glazing. One by one take a strip of cheese-filled dough and twist it once, or twice if the dough will allow it without breaking. Place the twists onto the prepared baking tray. If the twists start to self-destruct a little, just use a rolling pin to compact the cheese a little more so that they are easier to work with.
9. Once all the twists are on the baking tray, use an egg brush to lightly glaze them. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and place in the oven for around 15 minutes- though they may need an extra couple of minutes if you’ve made them larger.
10. Once beautifully puffy and golden, remove the twists from the oven. I would recommend removing them from the baking tray whilst they are still warm to avoid sticking and breakage. Place them on a cooling rack and then, enjoy!

 

Recipe adaption: It is definitely possible to make these cheese twists gluten-free, just buy the gluten-free version of the Jus-Roll or an equivalent. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, try making the pastry form scratch!