Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

These simple pastry knots are golden and light, with a cheese, garlic, spring onion and parsley filling. Most pre-rolled puff pastry is accidentally suitable for vegans, as oil is used to make it rather than butter. But always check to be sure. You can use whatever cheese you like for this, pretty much any will work

Yield:11 knots (140kcal per knot approx) Cook time:10-12 minutes

You’ll need:

1. 375g/13oz pre-rolled puff pastry, I used light puff pastry from Tesco
2. 50g/1.7oz dairy free cheese, grated
3. 20g/0.7oz dairy free parmesan (optional)
4. One large spring onion, sliced
5. Two cloves of garlic, minced
6. Half a teaspoon of parsley
7. A good pinch of cayenne pepper
8. A few tablespoons of unsweetened plant milk

Method:

• Allow the pastry to come to room temperature before unrolling it. While that’s happening, work on the filling
• Add the cheese, onion, garlic, parsley and cayenne pepper into a food processor, blitz until everything is chopped and well combined. You could season with a little salt and pepper at this point, I personally didn’t as I felt the salt in the cheese and cayenne pepper were enough for me
• Unroll the pastry, and brush a little milk over one half of it, this will ensure the filling sticks to it
• Evenly dot the filling around over the half you just brushed milk over.
• Then fold the other half of the pastry over it, as if closing a book
• Use a rolling pin to gently press and smooth out the pastry, this will also evenly distribute the filling
• Use a sharp knife to slice the pastry horizontally into thin strips. Then dust your hands with flour, and take each strip and twist it into a loose knot. Loosely tying the pastry will mean it has plenty of room to puff up as they bake
• Place the knots onto a lined baking tray, brush with a little more milk, then bake at 200°C/180°C fan assisted/400°F for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Eat them while they’re still warm, or they’re nice cold too