Tapas Snack Rolls

Anything involving pesto, tapenade, cheese and shortcrust pastry is bound to be tasty - and this project most certainly is! Try it before you love it! ;)

It did take some time to make, but it was not difficult to make, and if you are new in the kitchen (or low on energy) I would recommend this snack.

Ingredients:

- 180 g of Flour

- 3 tablespoons of Water

- 100 g of Butter

- Filling (tapenade, pesto, cheese - as much as you want)

- 1 egg (eggwash)

Step 1: Shortcrust Dough

First step is to make a shortcrust pastry with no sugar. Start out by mixing the cold butter and the flour in a bowl. Massage the butter and flour together, until there are no big lumps left. Add the water (I ended up adding a bit more water, but your dough might differ from mine, so try with 3 spoons of water at first.)

When the dough is smooth and well worked, shape it as a ball and place it in your refrigerator while mixing the fillings and preparing to roll the dough out.

Step 2: The Filling

The filling I used in the rolls was salty and oily foods, because it matches the dry and crispy shortcrust pastry. I did three different rolls:

1. Olive tapenade filling

2. Artichoke tapenade filling

3. Red pesto and mozzarella cheese filling

I purchased the pesto in a local store, but the tapenades I made (Here is the Instructable on that: https://www.instructables.com/id/Oliveasparagus-Tapanade/ )

Other filling ideas could be; Goat cheese and spinach, sundried tomatoes and mozzarella, or greenpesto and basilica.

Step 3: Make the Rolls

Once the dough is cool and the fillings are ready, roll out thin squares of dough. Mine were about 20 x 10 cm, but you can make them bigger or smaller as you please, just remember to adjust the baking time.

It can be tricky to work with the dough, as it is not elastic in any way. Mine broke a bit, and the ends were unfinished, but I cut them off and that worked well.

When you have a satisfying square, spread a layer of your chosen filling on top of it. Then roll the dough on the long side, creating something like a rolled-up-pancake-shape.

Step 4: Baking

Cut the roll in pieces, approximately 3 cm in with. Lay the pieces out on a baking trey and give them an egg wash before baking.

Let the snacks bake at 230 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes (mine took a bit longer, but it differs from time to time). When they are done, place them on a wire rack to let them cool.

Step 5: Enjoy the Snack

And now you are ready to enjoy your snack!

I served these with rosé wine as a surprise for my family, and we had a really nice snack-time. We love having fancy snacks before dinner on weekends, and this is a project that I’m definitely going to make again. These snack rolls would be delicious if paired up with a bit of goat cheese and served prior to a nice meal.

I hope this inspired you to make some snacks – there are loads of possibilities out there! Stay creative!