Marvs-ish Pastizzi

12:39am Thursday 26 August 2010 Sydney (gmt+10)

Pastizzi is the first thing that comes to mind whenever I think of Maltese cuisine. They're diamond shaped parcels made of crunchy puff pasty on the outside, and stuffed with ricotta and spinach on the inside... or with other goodies. And I think the best in Sydney can be found at the Pastizzi Cafe at Newtown. But when a client asked for "custom-made" Pastizzi then I just had to think outside the box and come up with a Marvs-ish Pastizzi.

The first point of difference is the stuffing. I used fresh Spinach, which is something that we always have in the cool room. Blanched it, then chopped it down to size. But instead of mixing it with rich, fatty Ricotta, like what you'd normally find in a Pastizzi, our client asked that I use guilt-free Light Philadelphia. I also used Pampas Puff Pastry, which is almost as good as the handmade version, but not as labor intensive. And that's good, 'coz I really didn't have much time to spare.

The second point of difference is the way I folded the pastry. With the Maltese Pastizzi the stuffing's usually completely covered or you only get a tiny peek of what's inside. But I opted for the stuffing to be predominantly visible... like the centerpiece of the pastry itself. And I did not make it into a diamond shape, but more like a Sea Shell like appearance.

I tested one Pastizzi first. So it won't be a major disaster just in case the time and temperature settings were incorrect. And the test piece came out great. So I lined them all on two trays, with ample gap in between to allow for expansion.

A few minutes later the Pastizzi were ready. They were all puffed up, golden brown... and the Light Philly and Spinach stuffing were all slightly caramelized. And while they were still piping hot I transferred them unto the platters.

Just as I got the platters ready and handed them to Avi to be taken to out our client and her guests started to arrive. And they also had a three piece acoustic band playing Spanish music. Nice!

They may not be perfect, but I'm happy with the way my Pastizzi came out. After work I went to the Heritage to meet up with Jan, Faizal and Sue. And I really felt that I deserve my drink that night. Cool!