Gouda, Fig Jam and Marcona Almond Pastries

I whipped these up for a party, such a great combination.

(original post)

Gouda, Fig Jam and Marcona Almond Pastries

1 jar of fig jam, or fig and orange jam is great too
12 oz goat Gouda, sliced and broken into 1″ pieces
1 cup Marcona almonds, roughly chopped
2 packages of puff pastry, thawed and kept cold
a little flour

Preheat oven to 375 F.

On a floured board, roll out puff pastry to a 9″ x 13″ rectangle.  You will be using two sheets so keep one rolled out sheet in the fridge until you have finished assembling the first batch.  Cut the puff paste into 12 pieces with a sharp knife.  To the center of each square add a chunk of cheese, a spoonful of jam and a sprinkling of almonds.  With your finger, dampened in water, wet two of the edges of the pastry square and fold into a triangle.  Press firmly on the edges with the tines of a fork to seal and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place baking sheet in the fridge while you assemble the second batch in the same manner.

When the second tray of pastries has been assembled, place in the fridge to chill for 5 minutes.  Bake both trays (or one at a time if your oven is lame like mine) for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Pull parchment off baking sheet with pastries onto a cooling rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature with lots of wonderful wine.

Note:  Puff paste can be quite uncooperative if too warm. But 5 minutes in the fridge firms up the pastry nicely.  If your pastry is getting goopy and hard to form into the triangles, pop them into the fridge to chill and you can proceed from there.