Deli Roll

So I had a bunch of my kids and grandkids over for Succot and I find that this is a dish that both adults and kids alike are very happy with. I made a little extra to use up the puff pastry roll and it was snorfed down in seconds. The joy in their eyes when I said, “Who wants another piece?” was amazing. This has a generous amount of deli in it since that’s basically the filling and if you stint on it then people are just getting a mouthful of dough. Nay nay, not cool.

This is a very simple recipe to prepare but if you want it to turn out properly there is a trick to it. Don’t make it a tight roll, it should loosely enfold the filling and cut the edges and do NOT seal them. This enables the puff pastry to properly puff. I illustrate with pics below.

Start with rolled out puff pastry (it’s in the frozen section) and let it defrost overnight in the fridge. This way it will be cold but will not break annoyingly when you need to work with it. Then get ready to fingerpaint (thought I use my latex gloves) with the two above condiments, sweet chili sauce and deli mustard. If you only have yellow mustard, it’s too bad but okay. The deli mustard gives a bit of tang and the chili sauce, although sweet, has also a nice kick but not so pronounced that the kids snoot it. In fact, one of my grandkids (who is not a mustard fan) asked me not to put any mustard on his plate. So I said I wouldn’t and he could not sense the mustard in the roll. Whew! The two condiments come together for a nice sweet and savory taste.

Next, open the defrosted puff pastry and gently unroll the dough but don’t remove the plastic that it lays on since you will use it to lift the dough, and lightly press down on the end bits to make a uniform sheet. The way mine comes is quite a long sheet of puff pastry and I cut it in half AFTER filling it. Then drizzle the chili sauce on it and dab/drizzle the mustard on it, like so.

Using your hands (in gloves or not) “fingerpaint” it all about.

Next take your deli, I use turkey roll and some type of salami both for the color contrast and the delicious taste combo, and alternate slices all over the dough.

Then, using the plastic that the dough comes wrapped in, gently lift the plastic and fold in thirds like so:

Then, take the top part and fold over the rest. It will NOT cover alll the deli.

As you see, you just need to gently pull the dough over the part peeking out and no need to press down to seal since the condiments should make it stick sufficiently. Prepare a pan with parchment paper so it won’t stick and gently flip the rolls after cutting them in half and NOT sealing them, so the closed part is face down in the pan.

This ensures a clean and pretty surface. Then beat an egg with a bit of water and brush on the surface of the rolls and sides.

Preheat your over to 400F ,at least 15 minutes, this is critical to the puffing of the pastry. If the oven isn’t hot, it won’t puff properly and your pastry will have a leaden quality to it and that’s too bad. Also, the reason you only fold it in thirds and not tightly is to allow the proper puffing of the pastry.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden and crispy looking. The smell is divine.

Serve hot with mustard and mayo or coleslaw. Just delish.

Deli Roll

1 package pre-rolled puff pastry dough, 1 kilo or 2.2 pounds, defrosted overnight in the fridge
3 tablespoons deli mustard OR wholegrain mustard
3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
600 grams or about 21 ounces of deli meat, I like turkey roll and salami
1 egg, beaten with half a teaspoon of water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Take the defrosted puff pastry dough out of its wrapper but leave it on the plastic wrap it comes in. and unroll it to one long sheet, gently patting the “fat” ends to make them even with the rest of the dough. Don’t overhandle it.

Take the mustard and sweet chili sauce and drizzle all around the dough “fingerpainting” it all over the surface. Take the deli and alternating slices and somewhat overlapping (see pic above) cover the whole surface of the dough with the deli.

Gently lift the dough by the plastic and fold in thirds (and then peel off the plastic) and then in thirds from the top to cover (and peel off plastic). Gently pull the top edge to cover the slices of deli. No need to press down to seal. Prepare a pan or two with parchment paper and after cutting deli roll in half, place seam side down in pan. Do NOT seal the edges of the roll or it won’t puff properly. Don’t worry about the sauce oozing out, since it’s a thin layer, it stays put nicely.

Bake in hot oven for 35-40 minutes or till the pastry puffs and turns golden brown. If not serving right away, let the deli roll cool completely before covering it with tin foil or you will steam the pastry and it will get soggy.

This can be reheated quite successfully on a plata (warmer) for Shabbat or holidays. Remove the tin foil from the pans and put paper towels (yes, yes, a trick I learned from my daughters) on top and then cover the whole thing with either towels or a plata cover (a quilted cover special for the warmer, great thing) and let heat up. It amazingly stays crispy this way. Yay. Serve with mustard, mayo, coleslaw or gloriously alone. Will be devoured, trust me. 😉