Savory Herb and Goat Cheese Turnovers

Although this blog has so far featured delicious desserts, baking can be so much more. Even beyond lasagna or other main course, single dish bakes, as far as I'm concerned the oven has earned a rightful spot in the preparation of some of the most stunning and mouth watering appetizers. This past weekend I went to my favorite Spanish tapas restaurant and ordered a small plate of goat cheese empanadas with a drizzle of a tomato based sauce. It is now Thursday and I've been salivating over those empanadas since then! And, in the spirit of expanding my baking repertoire, below you will find a simple and classy savory appetizer, with the total prep time taking about 15 minutes and another 15-20 baking.

Savory Herb and Goat Cheese Tunovers
1 package of Peppridge Farm pastry sheets (2 sheets), room temperature. (Cover with a damp paper towel once unwrapped)
2 4oz packages of fresh goat cheese (President is a good brand)
1 tsp garlic, minced
3/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
dash salt
dash red pepper flakes
flour, for rolling dough
1 tblsp milk
3 tblsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with either foil or parchment paper. In a medium sized bowl, crumble goat cheese and add garlic, mixing with a fork or your hands. Add basil, pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt to taste (above is a guideline for what I used), and mix well. From one sheet of pastry, cut into thirds along the pre-cut perforations. Taking one of the strips, lay horizontally on a surface lightly dusted with flour. Roll dough very thinly (1/8 inch thick), cut into squares or rectangles with a sharp knife and place the goat cheese mixture in the center of the dough - I used approximately 2 slightly heaping tsp/square. Moisten the edges of the pastry dough with milk, and then fold dough in half to cover the filling and seal edges by pressing together with a finger. If triangle turnovers are made, fold the dough over along the diagonal. Melt butter, and using a pastry brush, brush butter over the tops of the turnovers. Place on the foil or parchment paper covered baking sheet and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Enjoy!