These delicious goat’s cheese, red onion and walnut puff pastry squares are incredibly quick & easy and make the perfect light meal or snack. YUM!

Puff Pastry Perfection!

I absolutely love a good puff pastry-based recipe! The main reason I love puff pastry so much is that it really is the perfect quick ingredient. So many fantastic recipes can be made using puff pastry as the base, with very little time and effort. As an extra bonus, puff pastry lends itself so perfectly to sweet and savoury recipes alike, making it brilliantly versatile.

Check out some of my other yummy puff pastry recipes, like these 15 Minute Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Puff Pastry Squares and these fantastically moorish Quick Puff Pastry Cinnamon & Raisin Twists for some further pastry-based inspiration!

Now, it’s it’s perfectly possible to make your own puff pastry from scratch, however it’s notoriously tricky to get just right and the process from start to finish is pretty time consuming. Not so great for a quick recipe! Thankfully, ready made puff pastry sheets are widely available in stores these days so I always keep one or two in my fridge or freezer, ready for when inspiration hits me. I’d recommend everyone do the same!

Just one sheet of ready rolled puff pastry in this recipe makes a generous 6 squares, enough for 6 people as a snack or for 3 people as a main meal. All you have to do is unravel the sheet, spoon the filling on, slice it up then pop it in the oven. So simple! It’s also exactly the right thickness also and does not need rolling out any thinner which saves you further on precious time.

Goat’s cheese goodness

Goats cheese is another key ingredient in these puff pastry squares and quite frankly, I can’t get enough of the stuff! I’m an enormous cheese fan in general and goats cheese has to be one of my all-time favourites.

There are various different goats cheese varieties available, however for these 15 minute goats cheese red onion and walnut puff pastry squares, I recommend using that type that comes in a preformed log shape. This has a lovely smooth, uniform and crumbly texture and a delicious tangy taste which works just perfectly. Any cheeseboard worth it’s weight should have a decent quality goats cheese on it, in my opinion!

As an accompaniment to goats cheese, you absolutely cannot beat red onion chutney. Goats cheese and red onion chutney are a marriage made in heaven…the tangy, creamy goats cheese pairs absolutely perfectly with the sweet and rich red onion chutney. This is why you’ll find them both sitting very happily atop these golden, buttery puff pastry squares.

Walnuts for the win

Walnuts or another key ingredient in these 15 minute goat’s cheese, red onion and walnut puff pastry squares. This earthy and rich ingredient is such a fabulous companion to the cheese and chutney. Not only do they have a delicious, nutty flavour that I adore, but they add a satisfying ‘crunch’ to the finished pastry square.

As a final reason to include them, walnuts are know to have many brilliant health benefits! They’re packed full of antioxidants, healthy fats (including omega 3) and a range of vitamins and minerals. I always keep a pack of walnuts in my pantry cupboard to happily sprinkle into my recipes when the inspiration takes me.

Generally, shops sell two kinds of de-shelled walnut- either intact halves or walnut pieces. These goat’s cheese, red onion and walnut puff pastry squares call for the nuts to be in relatively small pieces. This is why I’d recommend buying walnut pieces if you can – because depending on their size- they’ll either need no chopping at all (just sprinkle them on and job done!) or at the most, you may need to give them a very quick chop with a sharp knife beforehand.

I’m all about the quick cooking of course, so anything to save time in the kitchen gets my firm vote! Go ahead and use walnut halves though if that’s what you’ve got at home, just bare in mind you’ll need to spend a bit more time chopping them up.

Wonderful Watercress

The final key ingredient in these super quick goats cheese red onion and walnut puff pastry squares is the watercress. This gorgeously green, leafy plant sits atop these pastry squares for several important reasons. Perhaps the most important is the lovely flavour! Watercress does have a rather bitter undertone that not everybody is a fan of, but a tiny bit of sharpness contrasts so beautifully with the other ingredients here that it all works together perfectly. The lovely green colour also adds a punch of freshness and vibrancy.

As a final bonus, watercress is really, really healthy! It’s rich in a range of vital nutrients, especially the all-important vitamin C. So sprinkling it atop your finished pastry squares adds the perfect touch. You only need a little bit – adding too much would be overpowering – so just a touch will do!

Now, lets take a peak at a step by step guide to making your perfect puff pastry squares, with handy photos along the way to guide you…

15 minute goat’s cheese, red onion and walnut puff pastry squares– step by step method

Makes 6 – perfect as a snack for 6 people or a more filling meal for 3 people

STEP BY STEP

Step 1

Start by pre-heating your oven to 220°C / 200 C fan (430 F / 400 F fan)

Step 2

Grab one 350g (approx 12 oz) ready-made puff pastry sheet. Note that is the approximate weight…depending on which brand of puff pastry you go for, it may weigh a little more or less than that, which is totally fine! Now unroll this sheet onto a clean work surface that’s been dusted with a little flour, to stop it sticking.

Step 3

Dollop four rounded tablespoons of red onion chutney onto the pastry sheet. Spread it around until evenly coating the pastry. Note you can do this with the back of the spoon – no need to faff about with a knife (which isn’t as good as the spoon at spreading anyway, I find!)

Step 4

Crumble 125g of soft goats cheese on top of the pastry sheet. Each piece of cheese needs to be about 5-10mm in size to cover the pastry evenly and give the best final result.

Step 4

Now grab yourself 3 heaped tablespoons of walnut pieces. Depending on their size, they may or may not be ready to add straight away from the pack. Each walnut piece needs to be about 5-10 mm in size (similar to the goat’s cheese) so if they already are, sprinkle them evenly atop the pastry sheet. If not the right size, give them a quick chop with a knife first, then sprinkle them on.

Step 5

Next, slice the pastry sheet into an evenly-sized 6 squares. Transfer these one at a time onto a greased baking sheet that’s been lined with baking parchment. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until crispy and golden around the edges. Note they tend to ‘puff up’ a lot during the cooking process! But don’t worry, they soon settle down and flatten shortly after being removed from the hot oven.

Step 6

Finally, take about 40g (1.5oz) of watercress, tear up any larger bits by hand, and scatter evenly across the top of each cooked pastry square. That’s it, you’re done! Can be served hot or cold as equally delicious either way, mmmm.