Tastemaker Program Recipe: Red Potato & Leek Puff Pastry Pouches

The fine folks at Foodbuzz recently teamed up with an amazing new sponsor: Pepperidge Farm! I’m sure many of you out there have at least one Pepperidge Farm favorite, be it their fun Goldfish snacks, incredible Sausalito cookie, or the always classic Milano. They’re not all about snacks though, and those of us in the Tastemaker Program had the opportunity to give their puff pastry sheets a try on the house. It took me a while to be well enough to hobble to Safeway to pick some up but I was finally able to do so this weekend and proceeded to get my bake on. My only problem, however, was deciding what to make. I mean, seriously! With puff pastry the possibilities are endless!

After reining in some of my loftier ideas which involved ingredients I neither had nor would be able to afford anytime soon, I decided to make something easy but definitely tasty. Using some red potatoes that were starting to eye me more than they should have and some lovely green leeks, I created a fun little appetizer that would be fun to serve at a holiday party or any special food event you might be having. And except for the sinful little puff pastry this simple mixture is wrapped in, this is probably one of the lesser evils of a holiday spread.

Now you’re probably wondering how a puff pastry recipe can be so inexpensive; most of the time these flaky treats can cost up to $5/each at a store or restaurant. But that’s the beauty of making things at home! With 1 package of puff pastry sheets that cost around $5 at most major grocery stores, half a leek, and just a few baby red potatoes, you can make one dozen of these tasty little pockets. The whole recipe works out to about $8.50, making each of these just around $0.70! Gotta love that! And because they’re filled with good stuff and not just fluff, they will definitely be satisfying.

Just a couple things to note on this recipe: you MUST make sure that everything is finely chopped and resist the temptation to use a lot of filling per pocket. Puff pastry does just what it says: it puffs! And if you’re making something that’s supposed to be completely enclosed within the pastry, it’s imperative that you give the pastry enough room to expand. Of course, there’s no need to be stingy; just be careful not to overstuff and seal your little puff pastry pocket well so that none of the good stuff escapes. And now for the recipe!