Roasted Vegetable Puff Pastry

I admit, it's very easy to impress the people I usually have over for Christmas.  They don't eat out much.  That doesn't stop me from making fine dining choices.

This one is a huge cheat that's sure to impress with very little effort.  The total active time is less than 10 minutes, though it does take a couple of hours to get everything put together and baked.

I actually didn't use spinach in mine.  I used fresh greens off my radishes.  You could use any leafy green you like, but I find spinach to be the most widely available.  Plus, defrosting a brick of it is a massive time-saving device.

1 lb rainbow carrots
1 lb fresh spinach leaves or 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 Tb olive oil
kosher salt
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 C crumbled bleu cheese
1 sheet puff pastry
flour for rolling the pastry

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Peel carrots, then cut into batons, about 1/4 of the diameter and 2" long.  Toss in olive oil, a pinch of salt, rosemary, and pepper.  Bake on a foil-lined sheet until cooked through, about 30 minutes.  If working from fresh spinach, cook until lightly wilted.

2.  While the carrots are cooling, defrost the puff pastry.  It takes 30-40 minutes.  You can keep the oven on, so it doesn't have to reheat.  There can be some overlapping of these steps.

3.  Roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface to get rid of the creases.  Place on a baking sheet.  Distribute drained spinach on pastry, keeping the rims clean.  Then spread carrots over the same area. Finally, sprinkle cheese sparsely over the veggies.  One crumble per bite is more than enough.

4.  Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly, then cut into pieces with a pizza cutter.  Serve immediately.  The pastry gets soggy if you try to serve it as leftovers, but it can be revived a bit in the toaster oven if it isn't too dark to start with.

Serves 6 as a side, 12 or more as an hors d'oeuvre

Difficulty rating π