Easy Peasy Turnovers

Our plan was to make one of our old favourites, front stoop mussels, while drinking copious amounts of wine and eating nearly (if not completely) a loaf of bread while sopping up every last drop of the Cambozola infused wine sauce. It would have been awesome. Unfortunately, for Dean and I, the timing didn’t work out so well and front stoop mussels will have to have their shining moment another day.

So, instead of mussels, we opted for a simple and quick turnover. Something just slightly sweet but not too heavy. After all, Dean only comes to Edmonton once a year and needed his moment on the blog. :)

We’re not martyrs and did not make our own puff pastry, which I don’t feel is the end of the world. One day, I may attempt to make it… but at 9:00pm on a Friday night, it was not the time to try.


Ingredients:
2/3 cup fresh ricotta
2-4 tablespoons honey
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup raspberries
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Puff pastry (one packet gives you two pieces of dough typically)
1 egg, separated
A bit of sugar

Similar to the souffle, you need to make a puree of the berries. I do this by warming/cooking the berries in a pot on the stove, smushing and mashing the berries with the back of a spoon. I’m not so concerned about chunks in the “puree” so don’t fret about blending it. It doesn’t have to be that precise. Gauge the sweetness of the berries and add sugar or honey according to your tastes. Add and mix in the cornstarch a tablespoon at a time in order the thicken the puree slightly… almost like a quick jam. Set the puree aside to cool slightly.

In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta and a bit of honey. And, in two more small bowls, separate your egg and whisk each the yolk and the white slightly.

Now, your fillings are ready, so it is time to tend to your pastry. Lightly flour your work surface and the top of the pastry. Roll out the dough, turning and flipping it as you go, in an attempt to maintain a square, which will make the turnovers easier to portion. When the pastry reaches a roughly 10” – 12” square, you can cut it into four smaller squares.

Fill each square with about 1 tablespoon of ricotta and 1 tablespoon of puree… or more if you think you can still close the turnover. Try to avoid leaving getting the filling on or near the edges. Though, we did and it isn’t the end of the world.

 
Brush egg white along the edge of the square. This will help seal the turnovers for you. Fold the opposite corners together to make a triangle. Help make the seal a bit more secure by pressing a fork along the edges, almost fusing the top and bottom together and adding a decorative edge. You can cut a slice or two in the top, again for decoration, then brush the surface with egg yolk and a sprinkle of sugar.

 
If you wanted to avoid over-warming your kitchen while you worked with the pastry, you can turn on your oven now… to 375F. Transfer your turnovers to a parchment lined baking sheet and put in the fridge to maintain the coolness of the pastry (you want to keep the butter in the dough cold, so that the many layers of the pastry remain separate and puff up when baked). Once the oven is warm, bake the turnovers for roughly 25 minutes. (You may want to check them after 20 minutes though.)

Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly, as the filling will be quite warm. Then, go to town. Leftover turnovers can be warmed or toasted up in the oven… keeps them nice and crispy.