Goat Cheese Squash Turnovers

aka Hot Pockets for adults.  

HOT POCKETS.  Filled with glorious vegetarian ingredients and tangy and sweet flavors with fresh herbs in puff pastry. I mean, come on.  I'm all about stuffing anything into pastry and calling it a balanced meal, and isn't that what a hot pocket is, anyway?  This, however, is actually healthy on the inside, so we can totally justify the pastry.  It's essentially a salad with whole wheat toast, give or take.  

You need a sheet of frozen puff pastry,  a yellow squash, a green onion, butter, lemon (just the zest, actually), salt, fresh tomato, and goat cheese.   Heads up, I use 1 sheet of pastry for 2 turnovers, which makes meal-sized turnovers.  If you want to cut down on the amount of pastry each person is eating you could 100% roll out the pastry a bit and make 3 turnovers per sheet of puff pastry, OR make little teensy versions for a brunch or shower or party.  OMG YES DO THAT.  

You also need basil!  This is optional, but super delicious and you can use any fresh herb that you like.  

So, first we preheat the oven and grab the puff pastry - it needs to sit on the counter for 20 minutes or so while you make the filling, so do this in advance if you think of it.  Then, add some butter to a skillet over medium heat and chop the squash.  You want bite-sized pieces; they'll cook down a lot.  

When the butter melts a bit, add the squash with a sprinkle of salt to the skillet.  

Stir the squash every few minutes so that it gets slightly brown in places but still cooks evenly.  While the squash is cooking, slice the scallion and chop the tomato.  

After 5 or so minutes of cooking the squash, once it has softened a bit, add the tomatoes and scallions.  Stir those into the mixture for a few minutes more.  The veggies will get a little bit watery, so let them cook until the water has mostly evaporated.  

Then, add the basil, goat cheese, and a sprinkling of lemon zest over the skillet.  Stir in this final round of ingredients very gently so that there are still some chunks of goat cheese, then turn the heat off the skillet.  

Now, it's time to build turnovers.  Grab the sheet of puff pastry, and unroll it on a floured board.  Use your fingers to stretch it out just a teensy bit; no need for a rolling pin.  

On the bottom half of the puff pastry, make two even mounds of the filling.  Use all of it - it should fit!  

Then, stretch the empty half of the dough over the filling.  This kind of looks like boobs.  

In the ... cleavage ... (I'm sorry, this is so ridiculous), make a slit to separate the dough into two pouches.  Then, use your fingers to press the edges closed.  

Transfer the turnovers carefully to a baking sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper (legit one of my fav kitchen items), then spray the tops with cooking spray and sprinkle them with salt.  Now, you can 100% do everything up to right now ahead of time and just keep the turnovers in the fridge.  

When you ARE ready to bake them slash eat them, bake them at 400F for 20 minutes, maybe a little more, until the pastry is puffy and golden.  THERE.  Top them with a little extra lemon zest and basil leaves, just to be fancy.  

I mean, come on.  These are ridiculous, and really easy to make.  The creamy and tangy filling is so summery, and the lemon zest is exactly what you need to offset the rich pastry.  

Let the turnovers rest just for a minute, then slice them in half.  Triangles like a grown up grilled cheese, amirite?  

I'm right.  

I'm already thinking about other ways I can use this filling, but THIS, my friends is pretty much the most perfect summer lunch ever.  You could add some greens on the side if you're feeling like a health nut, but we certainly didn't bother with all that nonsense.  

Like I said, basically a salad with whole wheat toast.  Try these soon!  

Recipe

Goat Cheese Squash Turnovers

Lindsay Howerton-Hastings

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed at room temperature for 30 minutes
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 1 medium yellow squash diced
• ▢ 1 fresh tomato diced
• ▢ 1 scallion sliced
• ▢ 3 ounces goat cheese crumbled
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt plus extra for sprinking
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves plus extra for topping
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon zest plus extra for topping
• ▢ cooking spray

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large skillet, add the butter and squash over medium heat. Saute, stirring, for 5 minutes until the squash has started to soften. Add the tomato and scallion and cook for 5 minutes more until the mixture is very soft but not watery. To the vegetables, add the basil leaves (tear them if they're very large), the lemon zest, the goat cheese, and salt. Stir very lightly, leaving some chunks of goat cheese. Remove the skillet from the heat.
• Sprinkle a board or counter with flour, and unfold the puff pastry. Lightly press the pastry with your fingers to flatten just a little bit. On one half of the pastry, make two mounds of the filling. Fold the other half over the filling, then cut in between the mounds of filling to make two pockets. Press the edges of the pastry together with your fingers. Spray each pastry with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Place the pastries on a baking sheet.
• Bake the turnovers at 400F for 20 minutes or until puffy and golden - cook time will depend on the temperature of the filling. Let cool for 5 minutes, then garnish with extra lemon zest and basil. Cut in half and serve!

Notes

• You can make the turnovers in advance; just chill them in the fridge on a baking sheet and add a few extra minutes to the baking time.

Nutrition

Serving: 2g

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!