Sometimes you make food that feeds your body – food that nourishes you and provides you with the things necessary for increased athletic performance, better skin, improved gut health or weight maintenance. And sometimes, you make food that nourishes your soul – nostalgic food, food that tastes good because it has about a million calories, food that doesn’t do anything for your skin or sleep patterns, but that reminds you that food can be fun and enjoyable and free from guilt and just plain good.
These pinwheels are food for the soul. Or at least my soul. They’ve got cheese and bacon and flaky pastry (that’s some kind of holy trinity, right?), they’re bite-sized (OK, two bites) and they get dipped in tomato sauce, which was the hallmark of all the Friday pizza-night foods I loved as a kid. There’s no secret herb-infused anything happening here, and there’s no exciting cooking method that you’ll need to learn in order to make them – they’re just easy, good comfort food, and they’re the perfect indulgence when you wanna make something that everyone will absolutely love to eat.
If you haven’t had any fun food in a while, give these a shot. They’re a fun way to break up your normal cooking routine, and they’ll make ya happy. I promise.
Boursin Bacon Pinwheels With Hot Honey and Tomato Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
For the Pinwheels
- 1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry thawed
- 10 strips bacon
- 2 cups loosely packed basil leaves chiffonaded
- 1 150g package Boursin Garlic & Herb Cheese Spread room temperature
- grated Parmesan cheese optional, for garnish
For the Hot Honey
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tsp chili flakes
For the Tomato Dipping Sauce
- olive oil
- 2 shallots peeled and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp chili flakes optional, for heat
- 1 can peeled plum tomatoes in juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Pinwheels
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Begin by preparing the cheese and bacon mixture. Turn your oven to 180FAN or about 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your bacon strips on a wire rack over a baking sheet and bake until crispy, about 20 minutes. Note: you can put your bacon in the oven before it reaches temperature. I always cook my bacon from a cold oven. I've tried every bacon-cooking method under the sun, and I think that a wire rack over a baking sheet in a cold oven works the best!
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While the bacon cooks, if you haven't already, thaw your puff pastry.
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Roll your puff pastry sheet out so that it's about 1/4 inch thick; it will end up about an inch longer and wider from where it started. It doesn't need to be perfect, just a bit thinner than it comes prepared so that the pinwheels have a good ratio of pastry to filling, and aren't too pastry – heavy.
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When the bacon is done cooking, chop it into small chunks and mix it in a mixing bowl with the boursin and basil. Stir everything to combine thoroughly. It's a thick mixture.
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Spread the mixture on the puff pastry sheet. You'll probably have to use your fingers. I pretend it's play-doh with the added bonus of getting to lick my fingers after. Again, this doesn't have to be perfect, just spend a minute or two spreading it out as evenly as you can.
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Roll the log as you would a jelly roll. Roll it from the longer side; this gives you more, manageably-sized, pinwheels.
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Stick the entire roll in the freezer for half an hour. When it's got about 5 minutes left, preheat your oven to 200FAN, or about 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Cut the roll in half, and then cut the halves in half until you have 16 similarly sized wheels.
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Place the wheels on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about an inch apart from one another, and bake for 15 minutes, until they're golden brown and flaky. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top of the hot pinwheels, drizzle with the hot honey and serve with the tomato sauce!
For the Hot Honey
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Combine the honey and chili flakes in a small sauce pot and bring the mixture to a simmer. Use hot. Note: I usually make this while the pinwheels are in the oven so that I can use it immediately when the pinwheels come out of the oven.
For the Tomato Sauce
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Add some olive oil to a sauce pot – just enough to coat the bottom of the pot – and turn the heat to medium.
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Add the shallots to the pot and cook until the shallots are softened and beginning to get some color, about 5 minutes.
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Add the garlic and chili flakes and stir. Cook another 2 minutes.
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Add the tomatoes and their juice and break up the larger chunks of tomatoes with your stirring spoon.
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Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes.
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Add the sauce to a blender and blend until the sauce is liquified, about 20-30 seconds. Note: you dont have to blend the sauce, but I prefer a very dippable sauce, and sometimes chunky sauces make dipping tougher than it needs to be. If you like chunkier dipping sauces, don't worry about this step!
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Return the sauce to the pan and stir in salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot. Note: I usually prepare the sauce for this appetizer while the pastry dough is chilling, which gives it time to simmer and develop nice flavor.