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10 Interesting Ways to Use Leftover Pastry Scraps plus a Boring One!

sugary pastry pinwheels from leftover pastry

Firstly collect all the pastry scraps and trimmings and knead together very lightly, then …

1.      Palmiers/Pinwheels


Roll the assembled pastry into a rough rectangle, it can be a raggedy one.  Scatter something delicious over the surface – good combinations would be Cheddar and Chilli, Pecans & Maple Sugar, Ham and Cheese, Dried Fruit & Brown Sugar, whatever you’ve got.  Roll up the pastry from one long edge, moisten the far edge and seal the roll. EITHER place sealed side down on a greased baking sheet, glaze and sprinkle the top as appropriate, bake till crisp and golden and then slice into pinwheels OR slice before baking, lay cut side up on the baking tray and cook like that.  The second option is good when using cheese as it goes all melty and yum.

pastry pinwheels


2.      Marmite Nibbles


Spread the rolled out pastry with a little Marmite (it spreads easier if you warmer it a little), fold in half and reroll to enclose the Marmite. Cut into little shapes and bake till crisp and golden.  These are not only delicious but, as a bonus,  you can scare Americans with them!

3.      Turnovers


pastry scrap turnovers
Roll the pastry out thinly, cut into circles and put a spoonful of something delicious on half the pastry disks. Brush the edges water, milk, cream or beaten egg and fold in half enclosing the filling, press the edges together. Place on a lightly greased baking tray, brush the top with milk or cream and sprinkle with sugar or salt. Using the tip of a sharp knife prod a little hole in the top of each turnover to allow steam to escape.  Bake in a medium hot oven (say 190ºC/375ºF/170ºC fan/gas 5) till crisp and golden. Turnovers can be fried too as with these fake samosas!

4.      Anchovy Bites 


These are much the same as above but using anchovy paste (either Patum Peperium aka Gentleman's Relish or mash an anchovy or two into some soft butter).  Continue as above. These are particularly beguiling cut into fishy shapes.

5.      Rustic Tarts

easy rustic tart from pastry scraps



If you don't have tart cases just cut out rounds or squares of pastry, top with chosen filling leaving about 1cm naked edge and then fold the edge up and over the filling to frame it which gives and attractive a rustic effect. Brush with beaten egg and bake till crisp and golden. 

6.      Sausage Rolls or similar

individual rhubarb pie from pastry trimmings


7.      Mini Napoleons


Cut the rolled out pastry into equal squares or rectangles and lay a little apart on the greased baking sheet.  Bake till risen, cool, split and fill with something wonderful.
cream slice recipe to use up leftover puff pastry


8.      Baby Tarte Tatins


Use a little muffin tray for these. Put a spoonful of your chosen filling (which then becomes a topping) into each of the muffin um … hollows?  Top each with a circle of pastry tucking it in at the edges and bake till crisp. Cool a little and then turn out carefully.  Apple is the traditional Tatin topping but roasted tomatoes, caramelised shallots etc. are good too.  Nothing too wet or runny.

leftover pastry nibbles

9.      Cook's Treat


Just toss the trimmings with a little sugar and powdered cinnamon and bake till crisp.  Make a cup of coffee and have yourself a sit down. You could add a little leftover ice cream (which you are sure to have if you’ve got a copy of my genius recipe no-churn ice cream book!)




10.  Crunchy Topping


Using the same principal as above but more sophisticatedly (is that a word?) roll the scraps out and cut into random or not random (ie. leaves) shapes, toss with sugar and cinnamon and scatter over the top of a dish of cooked apples (or whatever).  Bake till hot and crisp.

11.  BORING – just save all your bits of pastry in the freezer till you have enough to make something big.  See here for how to store puff pastry plus how to make Cheese Straws out of scraps.

pastry scraps for pinterest


A little more pastry scrap information …


~   Sprinkle a little coarse sea salt on savoury pastries.
~   Where appropriate sprinkle the pastry with grated cheese before cooking.
~   Sprinkle sweet pastries with sugar – caster or light brown are my favourites.
~   Only used ready cooked or quick cooking fillings for these little nibbles as the pastry doesn't take long to bake.
~    Cook these pastries in a medium hot oven 375˚F / 190˚C / Gas 5 / Fan 170˚C would be good but if the oven’s on a different temperature you can, within reason, use that!

PS. ~ I've had some more ideas!  See Brown Sugar Doo Dahs here.


If these are just some of the suggestions I can think of for pastry don't you wonder what ideas I have for the other 450 potential leftovers in my book Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers?


creative ways to use up leftovers


It was originally published as The Leftovers Handbook so don't go buying a second copy unless you really want to!


A Couple of Reviews ...

 “Really useful!

I love this book. In addition to being clearly set out in alphabetical order and having good ideas for using up a huge range of food, it has tips for cooking and for each ingredient a list of things that go well with it. I have used it a lot since I got it.”

oOo

“Leftover Heaven

If you feel the same about using leftovers as I do, then I can truly recommend Suzy Bowler's wondrous book The Leftovers Handbook. Suzy and I have conversed for a while on social media, discussing recipes and the use of flavours and a few days ago we were very lucky to receive a copy of Suzy's book. At just under 300 pages this fabulous book guides us through what we can do with a plethora of ingredients all categorised alphabetically from Aubergines to zest. There are tips and handy hints to get you in the mood and if you are looking for leftovers inspiration then this is the book for you.

Interspersed with the ingredients are wonderful recipes, recipes without pictures, a feature I totally agree with. The addition of pictures in cookbooks only serves to increase pressure on the modern-day home cook and experimenting with the flavours and ingredients is far more important than stacking your vegetables or smearing a coulis across your plate. One of the great things about this book is the ease in which each ingredient is showcased and the recipes follow on so naturally.”


rolling out leftover pastry








9 comments:

debs said...

squozen!thats a good word!

Sudden Lunch ~ Suzy Bowler said...

... and a good thing!

Grazing Kate said...

brill blog post - I always do a kind of cinnamon and icing sugar thing with my scraps of pastry, but you are far more inventive - the marmite will be out next time!

Chrissy @ littleyellowkitchen@gmail.com said...

haha love the "boring one". So simple, but I never would have thought of that!

Mmmm Little Tomato Tarts!? Yes, please!

fresaichigo said...

I like your ideas! I was pondering the question in my blog http://fresaichigo.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/where-do-pastry-trimmings-go/ I am concerned about food waste these days, especially from restaurants and bakeries. We could all learn from a few good tips like yours :-)

Martinezidar said...

brill blog post - I always do a kind of cinnamon and icing sugar thing with my scraps of pastry, but you are far more inventive - the marmite will be out next time!

Charlotte said...

So many great ideas. I love tartins and turnovers. You're making me want to make a pie just so I have some pastry left over!

I've never tried scaring Americans with marmite bites. Perhaps I should try it sometime :-)

Thanks for joining in with #FoodYearLinkup

Anonymous said...

Whenever I blind bake a pastry tart and trim off the extra once it's baked, I always wonder if there's anything I could use it for. I've tried it as a crumble topping, and thought about putting it in a layered sundae, but wonder if you have any ideas?

Anonymous said...

Keep on working, great job!