BSI entry: Sweet Strawberry Samosas

When Laura at Hey What's For Dinner Mom announced this week's BSI ingredient was strawberries, my mind immediately went to work on ideas. I had so many I wanted to try, but knew I needed to pick something that was fast and reasonably reliable.

I immediately thought of a sweet samosa. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of eating a samosa, I'm sorry for you. Imagine a rich pastry dough stuffed with savory fillings such as potatoes and peas or spiced ground beef, which is then fried to a golden goodness. The varieties are endless. Think of the Indian equivalent of an empanada and you'll get the idea.

Anyway, when I make samosas, I don't make the dough from scratch because I'm too lazy. I've experimented with eggroll wrappers, phyllo dough, refrigerated pie crust, and puff pastry sheets. I also don't like deep frying, so I end up baking my samosas. Not 100% authentic, but it definitely hits the spot. Of all these methods, I would have to say the refrigerated pie crust produces the best result, but I noticed after happily scarfing these down that they tend to contain lard, which I try to avoid. Puff pastry doesn't produce the traditional look, but it's easy for me to use. Plus there are some Bengali snacks called "patties" that use puff pastry, so whatever. See my October Book Club Tea post for examples of "patties" and how from-scratch samosas look. My friend Lopa has perfected the dough for the ones from scratch, although she makes the Bengali version of samosas, called shingaras. Yes, I know I'm being confusing, sorry!

So back to my BSI entry. I have been toying with the idea of making sweet samosas for a while now. I figured using strawberries as the filling was the perfect opportunity to experiment. I was initially going to use phyllo dough but it's so fiddly, so I went to my reliable puff pastry dough. I thought of adding some chocolate to the filling because what goes better with puff pastry than chocolate? Think of pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants) and you'll see what I mean. The results were good. Very good. I may have to take the leftovers to work tomorrow so that we don't scarf them all tonight.



Sweet Strawberry Samosas
1 sheet puff pastry
1.5 cups strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
2 tsp. honey
2 tsp. sugar, separated
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. orange extract

Thaw puff pastry for 40 minutes.

While puff pastry is thawing, take prepared strawberries, and add honey, 1 tsp. sugar, and orange extract. Mix well, and let sit for approximately 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

After puff pastry is thawed, cut into 9 squares. Take strawberries and drain any remaining liquid. Add chocolate chips and combine.

In each square, place approximately 1 tsp. of strawberry mixture in center. Fold up corners diagonally to form a triangle. Press edges shut. You may need to adjust filling amount as necessary so samosas are not over-stuffed.

Once all samosas are made, lay on cookie sheet. Spray more cooking spray or spray butter on tops and sprinkle remaining tsp. of sugar over samosas.

Bake approximately 20 minutes or until pastry is golden.

Let cool and drizzle chocolate syrup over samosas if desired.



Now as you can see, I definitely over-stuffed my samosas, since they burst open at the sides while baking. However, I still think they looked good this way, since now I don't have to cut them open to show the filling! :)