Spinach & Artichoke Puff Pastry Bites

These little puff pastry cups are from our mini vol-au-vent tutorial. Check out the full vol-au-vent post for more details and scrumptious filling ideas!

For another spinach and artichoke recipe, try our homemade spinach hummus with lemony fried artichokes.

Ingredients

• Spinach - We used fresh spinach that we quickly sautéed with the garlic. You can also used frozen spinach and skip the sauté step.
• Artichoke Hearts - We used a can of quartered artichoke hearts in brine (drained). Frozen and thawed works, too.
• Puff Pastry - We used a store-bought (frozen and thawed) puff pastry to make our very own mini vol-au-vent (pastry cups). If you'd like to make your own puff pastry, we like the homemade puff pastry recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. Alternatively, if they are available near you, you can use the premade mini phyllo cups from the grocery freezer section.

Kitchen Tools Needed

• 2 Round Cookie Cutters - I used the smallest and third smallest cookie cutters from a nestled set. The larger cookie cutter had a diameter of 1 ¼ inches and the smallest cutter has a diameter of ¾ inch. You can make them a touch bigger, if needed - but these really are the perfect bite size.
  • I used fluted cutters, but straight circles work just as well. In the past, I have used the wide end of a metal pastry tip (for cake decorating) as my smaller "cookie cutter".
• Fork or toothpick - to poke holes in the Botton sheet of dough and prevent some puffing.
• Pastry Brush - For assembling and glazing with egg wash.
• Rolling Pin - Optional, for retooling pastry scraps and making more vol-au-vent.
• Food Processor with Blade Attachment - Or a high-speed blender.
• Clean Kitchen Towel - for wringing the spinach and artichoke of excess moisture. You could also use a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.
• Piping Bag - I buy inexpensive plastic piping bags from Amazon. You could use a reusable piping bag with a small round tip or a Ziplock bag with the corner cut off.

How To Make Mini Puff Pastry Cups

This technique is based on the French classic, called vol-au-vent. We scaled down the size of a traditional vol-au-vent to make perfectly bite-sized puff pastry cups that are perfect for appetizers and mini desserts. It's a little tedious, but pretty easy - here's how it's done:

1. Start with cold pastry on a lightly floured work surface.
2. Using the larger (1 ¼ inch) cookie cutter, punch as many circles from the dough as possible.

3. One third of the pastry circles will remain intact as the base of each vol-au-vent pastry. The other ⅔ of the circles will become the sides of the pastry cups. Use the smaller circle to punch out the middle of the circles, creating tiny rings.
   
   Save the scraps and chill to be rerolled for more vol-au-vent.
   
4. Use egg wash to adhere two layers of pastry rings to each larger circle.
   
   If preferred you can just add one ring, to create a smaller cup. Admittedly, the double ring can cause theses cups to go a bit wonky and uneven in the oven... but I'm all for the uneven cups so I can fill them generously with spinach and artichoke dip!
   
5. Once shaped, I like to chill the pastry until completely firm. You can do this in the refrigerator (for about 1 hour) or in the freezer (for about 15 minutes). In the meantime, preheat the oven.

6. Once the oven is preheated and the vol-au-vent are completely chilled, use a fork or toothpick to poke a few holes in the bottom sheet of pastry. This process, called docking, will allow steam to escape and prevent the bottom sheet of pastry from puffing up as much.
7. Then, working quickly, use a pastry brush to apply a thin coat of egg wash to the entire cup. Be sure to pay special attentions to the sides of the vol-au-vent. The egg wash will give the pastry a nice shiny finish but also help to bind the sides of the pastry together and prevent gaps.

8. Bake the puff pastry cups for about 10 minutes. Quickly rotate the pan in the oven to promote even browning. Continue baking for 5 - 10 more minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.
9. Allow the pastries to cool completely. With a traditional larger vol-au-vent, the center of the pastry is cut out, carefully, with the tip of a paring knife. You are welcome to use that method here, as well. However, since these puff pastry cups are so tiny, I'm inclined to just push the centers down, creating a deeper cup, with my fingertip.
10. Voila! Mini vol-au-vent ready for endless fillings and flaky bite-sized joy.

Spinach and Artichoke Filling

Now let's make the spinach and artichoke filling. It only takes a few minutes.

1. If using fresh spinach, start by quickly sautéing the spinach, until wilted, over medium-high heat. Once beginning to wilt, add the garlic and cook for one additional minute.
   
   If using frozen spinach, you can skip this step. Just add the drained spinach, olive oil and raw garlic to the food processor with the other ingredients below.

2. Next you need to drain the excess moisture from the spinach and drained artichoke hearts. Place the sautéed (or thawed) spinach and drained artichoke hearts in a clean kitchen towel, fine mesh strainer or folded cheesecloth.
3. With your hands, squeeze as much moisture as possible out of the filling ingredients.

4. Add the spinach, garlic, artichokes, cream cheese, Parmesan, mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon, juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.
   
   **If using frozen and thawed spinach, add the raw garlic, as well.
   
5. Process on high speed, scraping the bowl as necessary, until the mixture has a fine, almost smooth texture. Adjust seasonings, to taste.
6. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag (or ziplock). Keep the mixture refrigerated until ready to use.

Filling The Cups

I recommend filling the cups just before serving. If the spinach dip has been chilling in the refrigerator, allow it to temper at room temperature until it is soft and easy to pipe.

1. Squeeze a generous amount of spinach artichoke filling into each vol-au-vent pastry cup. I kept mine simple, but feel free to garnish your with a little extra Parmesan cheese or chopped chives, as desired.
2. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

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