Nothing beats a crisp, flaky and cheesy puff pastry twist still warm from the oven… unless you add delicious Prosciutto! It’s delicate salty sweetness, together with the crunch of poppy or sesame seeds elevates this humble recipe into a moreish snack or perfect drinks accompaniment. One is never enough!
Note this recipe makes 6 twists with poppy seeds and 6 with sesame seeds but feel free to choose just one (and double the quantity) or even mix them.
Ingredients
2x 320g Puff Pastry Sheets – All butter preferable.
Pre-heat your oven to 220°C / 200°C Fan and place two large baking trays in to pre-heat too (this will ensure the bottom of your twists is perfectly golden and no soggy bottoms!)
Before even taking the puff pastry out of the fridge, have all the ingredients prepped and ready to work with. The reason is puff pastry is always happiest and easiest to work with when it’s cold and handled as little as possible!
Beat the egg, spread each of the seeds out onto two flat plates, lay out the prosciutto and grate the parmesan onto a plate. Also cut two large pieces of parchment / baking paper too.
Once the ingredients are all prepped, take one of the puff pastry sheets and lay out flat onto a chopping board still with its paper lining underneath.
Cut the pastry sheet in half down the middle of the longest side so you have two squarer shaped rectangles.
On one of the pastry halves, layer three slices of prosciutto, overlapping slightly to fully cover the pastry half, then sprinkle all over half the parmesan.
Place the second pastry half carefully over the top to sandwich the filling. Use the paper lining to help with this and use it to gently press it all down.
Again, using the longest side of the pastry, take a large sharp knife and cut the pastry sandwich into six equal strips (they should be approx. 3cm wide).
Brush one side of the pastry strips all over with the beaten egg and then carefully lift them individually and dip the egg wash side into the plate of poppy seeds so one whole side is covered in seeds. Return to your board and repeat with the other five.
It’s twist time! Carefully take one of the strips from each end and confidently twist one hand towards you and the other away from you. Do this twice so you end up with three seeded covered areas and two plain areas showing. Set carefully aside and repeat with the rest.
Remove one of the hot baking trays from the oven and place a sheet of parchment / baking paper over. Transfer the pastry twists to the tray leaving a centimetre or two of space between each.
Brush the plain areas of each twist with some of the beaten egg.
Bake for 20-25 mins until puffed up and golden brown.
As they bake, repeat from steps 4 with the other pastry sheet and the sesame seeds.
Leave to cool for 10 mins once out of the oven and enjoy! Any leftover can be heated back to their best in a 200°C / 180°C Fan Oven for 10 mins.
