Palmiers, or elephant ears (or glutus maximi--what we thought they looked most like), are pastries typically filled with powdered sugar, but this Barefoot Contessa recipe is Mediterranean savory. Basically, it's pesto, feta, sundried tomatoes, and pine nuts in puffed pastry.
There were lots of folding steps that the recipe made a little unclear, so my friend Laura (who makes a lovely hand model!) and I documented our experimentation with recipe. The result: crispy, delicious, fancy-looking hors d'oeuvres.
(Transparency statement: This was the pretty picture from our second batch; the first batch I baked at 350 degrees instead of 400, which made them not-so-crispy. Whoops.)
First, roll out a sheet of puff pastry into anapproximately 9x11-inch rectangle. If you don't have a rolling pin (as was the case at our cabin in the woods), use a wine bottle. We didn't even take the label off, and it worked fine. Just beware of the skinnier neck making your rolling slightly uneven.
Then, spread onto the pastry dough tastiness--pesto then feta, toasted pine nuts, and chopped sundried tomatoes-- 1/8 cup of each.
Fold 1: Starting with the short ends, fold each side toward the center until the folded edges almost touch.
Fold 2: Again, fold each side toward the center until the edges almost touch.
And fold some more.
Fold 3: Fold one side over the other and press lightly.
Hey Madoline! I made these last night and they were delicious. I used phyllo dough instead of pastry dough because it's all the commissary had, and it turned out well, although not as pretty. Cooking here is a challenge, it's really hard to find things. I am dying to try the butternut squash lasagna, but I don't think they have squash here. :)
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