I have been dying to make a cheesy broccoli pie-style thingie for ages. If you’ve been reading my blog for long enough you’ll remember that two years ago I made these delectable cauliflower cheese pastries in homage to ready-made pastries I often buy from a supermarket here in South Africa. They were absolutely delectable but I have wanted to make my version of the actual pastries I love so much which contain broccoli in a very soufflé-like sauce, and so finally this weekend, I did. And you guys, they were so damn good. The golden, crisp pastry flakes apart beautifully to unveil they creamy, cheesy broccoli cheese sauce inside. It is just heaven.
How to make cheesy broccoli puffs
The trick to these puff is to make sure the cheese sauce you make is thick. Like, really thick. If it is too runny, eating the puffs will be a disaster. You want to be able to pick these up and eat them as is, without a knife and fork and that’s why it’s quite crucial that you stick to making a thick cheese sauce. It’s also important that you cook the cheese sauce out properly so that it doesn’t contain any of that flouriness but instead is just velvety smooth and perfectly addictive. This is achieved by stirring the (very thick) sauce over medium heat consistently for around 10 minutes. Thereafter, you take it off the heat, stir in the cheese and steamed broccoli and spoon it into the pastry. I used a small-cup muffin tin for this but you can definitely use a regular muffin tin. Just make sure you don’t fill the pastries too much. I cut a ready-rolled sheet of puff pastry into 12 squares and simply placed them in the holes, ready to be filled. The filled pastry is then closed (as you’ll see in the photo) and brushed with egg wash. They went into the oven and came out golden, crisp and too good to be true. These delectable pastries are a fantastic snack and make for a great addition to a tea table but they’re also great served with a salad for a light dinner. And confession: I ate one too days later, warmed up, and it was still just as delicious. They are great in every way but then again, when is anything wrapped in pastry not?
More broccoli recipes you will love:
Crispy chicken thighs on cheesy broccoli rice
Easy Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
