#26: Butternut Squash Bites
Another Thanksgiving recipe!
Welcome to The Kitchen Club! Your subscription to The Kitchen Club helps these recipes get developed, tested, and sent out to you. Thank you!
Today is another recipe that I love for Thanksgiving (or any day). If you love it too, maybe share it with a friend?
Hello, happy Wednesday, how is our Thanksgiving prep going? This year it is just Marco and me, which makes my prep pretty minimal. If I were cooking for a group of people I would set out two things for them to nibble on while I finish making dinner, a cheese board and Butternut Squash Bites. In fact, I will still set out those two things just for Marco and me because I love them both. I am extra excited about today’s recipe for a few reasons:
It includes puff pastry and who doesn’t love puff pastry?
We are not making the puff pastry and that saves us hours.
They can be prepped in advance and popped in the oven right before or as guests arrive, making us look like we are really on top of things (which we are).
These bites are incredibly delicious.
We are going to jump right into it and break down today’s Butternut Squash Bites.
Not all puff pastry is created equal
Puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) is an ultra-light and flakey laminated dough that is used for sweet and savory dishes. Think of croissants dough minus the yeast. As with croissants, making puff pastry requires a little bit of skill and a lot of time. It’s a pain in the ass to do for one dish. Luckily we can get really great puff pastry frozen and ready to go from the grocery store.
Traditionally puff pastry is made of butter, flour, water, and salt. That’s it. Our main ingredient here is butter and the better the butter, the better the puff pastry. The best store-bought puff pastry is Dufour. I stand by that statement 100%.
It is the priciest of the four I am going to mention but it is worth every penny. I almost always have a box in my freezer because I can pull it out and make a really impressive dish in no time. It is my favorite hosting hack. It is made with real butter, tastes great, and has beautiful layers. Whole Foods always has it as well as Sprouts.
Around the holidays, Trader Joe’s sells their own all-butter puff pastry. I have used it before and it is surprisingly awesome but because you can only get it a few months out of the year, it is hard to find. If you see them in the freezer section, stock up!
The most widely available brand is Pepperidge Farm. I have used Pepperidge Farm a bunch when I can’t get Dufour and it’s actually great. I have found them to be a little inconsistent with big patches of flour and the sheets not being even but they always get the job done. The biggest difference with Pepperidge Farm puff pastry is that it is made with oil instead of butter. This keeps the cost down but also means it lacks that delicious buttery flavor and mouthfeel. If this is what ya got, no sweat but I’ll always recommend splurging for an all-butter puff pastry.
For my gluten-free peeps, Schär makes GF frozen puff pastry. I haven’t used it because Marco is still technically allergic to the sunflower oil in it but we will be testing it out this Thanksgiving because he is dying to try these Butternut Squash Bites. It uses corn and rice as a substitution for flour and is made with oil instead of butter but that doesn’t mean it won’t be nice and flaky. I’ll report back with our thoughts but if you are GF and haven’t had puff pastry in years (like Marco) it’s totally worth trying.
*Edit: We did try the Schär GF puff pastry. It wasn’t really puffy but it got the job done. Marco says it is worth it instead of not having any butternut squash bites at all!
Working with puff pastry
The first thing you have to do is defrost it in the fridge. Frozen puff pastry is brittle and will snap. We can’t work with it frozen but we also can’t work with it warm. It is crucial for the puff pastry to stay cold during this whole process. There are a few breaks where we chill it back in the fridge, do not skip these. When the pastry warms, the butter layer can mix with the flour layers and the end result can be less puffy. Plus it’s harder to work with.
Something I started doing with pastry and pie doughs is rolling them on top of a piece of parchment. This allows me a little extra insurance during the process. If I need to chill the dough, I can easily slip the parchment onto a tray. I don’t have to worry about anything sticking to the counter and can always peel the parchment off the back easily if there is sticking. Plus it makes cleaning up a bit easier.
Start by dusting a sheet of parchment the size of a half sheet tray (18x13) with flour. Unfold the puff pastry and place it in the center, dust the top with more flour, and roll it out to fill the sheet. About two inches longer and wider. This gives us a little more surface area, creating more bites. Pop it in the fridge and chill it for 10 minutes.
Grab your set of round cutters and pull out a 2.75-inch cutter and a 2-inch cutter. Use the larger cutter and cut as many circles as you can. I get 20 circles per sheet. If I rolled it a little longer I would be able to get 24. You can do that if you want! Transfer those circles to a sheet tray lined with clean parchment and chill for another 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, take your smaller 2-inch circle cutter, place it in the center, and press down cutting through about two-thirds of the dough but not completely. The filling is going to go in the center and this will allow the outer ring to rise and create a nice edge.
Take a fork and dock (poke holes) the center circle. Then take a pastry brush (or your finger) and egg wash the outer rim. They are ready to be filled.
Butternut Squash Filling
This filling is very simple. All the ingredients, except the goat cheese, get sauteed and steamed until soft. From there everything gets pureed in a blender, the goat cheese is added, and we adjust seasoning.
We don’t want the puree super wet. It should be thick and hold its shape when spooned onto the pastry. If there is a bunch of extra liquid in your pan, once everything is cooked and before pureeing, simmer uncovered until it is almost completely evaporated.
Because it is thick, you may have to stop your blender and scape everything down. Do it as many times as you need to get the mixture silky smooth. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool completely. If you are making the puree the same day, it is important to let it cool completely before assembling. Warm puree can prematurely warm the pastry and hinder it from rising and becoming flakey. Cold dough + hot oven = flakes.
Filling + Baking
I use a small spoon and spoon about a teaspoon of filling into the center of each pastry. You can use an offset spatula or the back of that spoon to smooth it out and scoot it right up to the edge. Alternatively, you can fill a pastry bag with a small tip on it and pipe the filling into the center. The filling should stay in place but be cautious not to add too much. One to two teaspoons is all you need. Once they are filled and ready to go, chill them for 10 minutes before baking. They can hang out in the fridge until guests come too.
When you are ready to bake, pop them right into a 400º oven for 18-20 minutes. They should puff up significantly. The edges and bottoms should be golden. Carefully check the bottom of one to make sure they are crisp and evenly golden. If not, give them an extra minute or two.
Once they are done, add some bacon crumbles and chives to the top and serve while they are hot!
Notes:
The size of butternut squash and leeks can vary greatly. You’ll find weight and cup measurements in the recipe. From that photo above I ended up using a fourth of the leek and about half of the squash.
If you do not have circle cutters, you can use your knife to make small rectangles or squares and use the knife to create the inner rectangle/square also. I tested this and it worked perfectly.
The filling can be made a day in advance and held in the fridge.
The pastry can be cut and docked a few hours in advance and held in the fridge with plastic wrap on top to prevent it from drying out.
Fully assembled bites (with egg wash and filling) can be made about an hour before baking. Cover them loosely with plastic wrap.
If you have leftovers (you probably won't), reheat them by toasting them in a toaster oven. They will crisp back up.
You will have leftover butternut squash filling. Save it and make pasta with it! Warm it in a pan, add hot cooked pasta, and a splash of pasta H2O. Stir to create a creamy sauce and serve with parm. 🍝
Butternut Squash Bites
Filling
2 tablespoons butter
6oz (1.5c) sliced leeks, white and light green part only
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
14oz (3c) butternut squash, 1-inch cubes
½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1.5oz (3T-ish) goat chevre
To Assemble
14oz sheet Frozen puff pastry *Dufour is the brand I always recommend
1 egg, whisked
6oz (6 pieces) bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Filling
Melt butter in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add sliced leeks and cook, stirring often until leeks are very soft and start to pick up some color. About 8 minutes. Add sliced garlic and continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and soft.
Add cubed butternut squash, thyme, and broth. Season with salt and cover. Reduce the heat to low and cook covered for about 15 minutes. Give the pan a shake every 5 minutes. Remove the lid and poke a few pieces of squash to check for doneness. They should all be soft. If there is excess moisture in the pan, simmer uncovered for a few minutes until it is almost completely evaporated.
Add 1T maple syrup to the pan and stir, followed by 2t of sherry vinegar. Stir and cook for one minute.
Transfer everything in the pan to a blender and blend until smooth. Once smooth, add goat cheese and blend to incorporate. Taste the puree and season with salt and pepper. Transfer it to a bowl and cool.
*Butternut squash filling can be made a day in advance. Refrigerate after it has cooled.
Pastry
Transfer puff pastry from the freezer to the fridge to defrost 24 hours before assembling.
Dust a piece of parchment paper the size of a half sheet tray (18x13in) with flour. Unwrap puff pastry and lay it in the center. Dust the top of the pastry with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the pastry the size of the parchment paper. About two inches longer and wider. Slide the pastry and parchment onto a tray and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Remove from the fridge and use a 2.75-inch circle cutter to cut 20 circles. Transfer the circles to a tray lined with a clean piece of parchment paper. Chill for another 10 minutes.
Remove from the fridge. Take a smaller 2-inch circle cutter and center it in the middle of the pastry circles. Press the cutter about two-thirds of the way through the pastry being careful not to cut to the bottom. Repeat on all 20.
Use a fork and dock the centers multiple times. Use a pastry brush (or your finger) to brush the outer rim with egg wash.
Spoon a heaping teaspoon of filling into the center of each pastry. Use the back of your spoon, or an offset spatula, to fill the center circle. Chill for 10+ minutes.
Heat an oven to 400º
When ready to bake, transfer the bites directly from the fridge to the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. They will puff significantly and the edges should be golden. Carefully, check the bottom of a pastry to see if the bottoms are evenly golden. If not bake for an additional minute or two.
Add crumbled bacon and chopped chives to the center. Serve hot right out of the oven.
When I tested this recipe in LA I turned the leftover filling into a pot pie. I sauteed some onions, celery, and carrots until soft. Added leftover butternut squash filling to the pan, thinned it out with a little broth, and mixed in shredded roast chicken (leftover from the night before). Transferred that to a dish, covered it with extra puff pastry from the freezer, and baked until the pastry was flaky and golden.
You could also do this with leftover turkey the day after Thanksgiving…
See you next week, M
I was part of the test group that tried these in L.A. they are unbelievable awesome!
Thank you Marcella! I look forward to going through your list.