Veggie Puff Pillows with Basil-ee Tomato Sauce

I concocted up this recipe last night to try to use up some of our fresh veggies in the fridge... and to try something other than stir fry or any of the other standbys we have been eating lately. I was so happy with the results. We love puff pastry and I used to try lots of recipes in my non-vegan days, so I guess this is just a healthier and much yummier variation. Enjoy!

Veggie Puff Pillows
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion, diced
5 medium stalks of asparagus, diced
1/4 cup yellow pepper, diced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup kalamata olives, diced
2 plum tomatoes diced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tsp Italian seasoning
3 tsp dried or frozen chopped basil
1 cup baby spinach, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
For sprinkling: pinch of salt, pepper and dried basil
Cooking Spray
Small dish of water

Preheat oven to 425. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside. Cut thawed puff pastry into 12 even squares and allow to rest on a floured cutting board.

In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add yellow and green peppers, carrots, asparagus, kalamata olives and pine nuts. Season with basil, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Saute for an additional 3-5 minutes until flavors are combined. Drop in baby spinach and stir for about 1-2 minutes until spinach begins to wilt. Turn off heat. Allow to cool for a couple minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl.

Spoon 1 tbsp of mixture onto center of 6 of the puff pastry squares. Using your fingers, dab water around edges of each filled pastry square. Then go to work on the tops. Slightly stretch each remaining square using gentle pressure and set a top onto each filled square. Crimp edges with a fork. Puncture top with a fork to allow steam to escape during baking. Place on greased cookie sheet. Spray tops with cooking spray and sprinkle with basil, salt and pepper. Cook until tops are golden brown and pastries have puffed. Approximately 18 minutes in my oven. Allow puff pillows to cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve with Basil-ee Tomato Sauce (see below) for dipping.


Basil-ee Tomato Sauce
Why by tomato sauce when you can make a healthier, inexpensive version in minutes!
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup onion, diced
4 tsp dried or frozen basil
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes with basil
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp ground flax seed

In a medium sauce pan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for two minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, basil and Italian seasoning. Salt and Pepper to taste. Stir until well combined. Reduce heat and simmer at least 5 minutes (I know you're impatient...) but more is better to allow flavors to incorporate well. Mix in flax seed and stir to incorporate. Simmer an additional 2 minutes and serve. This goes well over pasta dishes, as a pizza sauce or as a dipping sauce for bread sticks or puff pastry pillows. Healthy and tastes good. My favorite combo!

If you want to take advantage of my favorite "I'm feeling lazy and want to pull something out of the freezer for dinner" method... allow remaining sauce to cool and transfer to 1 qt freezer bags. This freezes well. You will probably use up all the left over sauce within a couple weeks... but if you don't, I would suggest trying to use it all up within 3 months.