Gourmet Cheese Twists

The most exciting thing on a Saturday morning is when my mom comes home from the market with a treat. On the way home from the market, there is a German bakery called Artistic Bakery and, if I am lucky, my mom will stop and pick me up a cheese stick. This isn’t just any regular, doughy cheese stick; it’s flaky and has a slight spice to it. With inspiration from this delightful treat, I wanted to make something similar to use as an appetizer for dinner parties. Although many of the recipes we make are healthy, everyone occasionally needs a treat and this is the perfect splurge.  The cheese used by the bakery turns the cheese sticks an orange colour. I decided to use two white cheeses with more of a sharp taste.

Ingredients

1 box of Puff Pastry (thawed)

1 egg

~1 cup Gruyere Cheese

~1 cup Asiago Cheese

Thyme (dried)

Black pepper to taste

Kosher Salt

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Step 2: Roll out each of puff pastry sticks (should be two in a box) on a floured surface. Roll out as thin as possible and each of the resulting rectangles will be approximately 11x10 inches.

Step 3: Beat the egg with a little bit of water and spread across the surface of each of the pastries.
Step 4: Grate the cheese and then spread each of the cheeses evenly across both of the pastries and add black pepper and lightly sprinkle the kosher salt across (only about ½ tsp.). Also sprinkle thyme across the entire surface.

It can cause a big mess, but it's worth it in the end!

Step 5: Cut into about 1 inch long strips, so about 11 sticks per puff pastry. Twist each strip and place on parchment paper.

Step 6: Cook for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. On occasion, they may be puffed up after 15 minutes but not browned. When that happens, I will broil them for about 45 seconds, watching closely the entire time to prevent burning.

Enjoy!
-A