How to describe a cheese roll...think of them as the vegetarian cousin to a Jamaican patty. A cute little hand held cheese pie that's so flaky it gets all over your clothes and all up in your hair when you're done eating it. A traditional Guyanese cheese roll would be served with hot pepper sauce (hot sauce made out of very hot weri weri peppers), but in my version, I made a hot pepper chutney to go alongside instead. Mostly because pepper sauce is way to spicy for me to enjoy comfortably. I guess this was my way of Canadian-izing them. PS - this chutney was still pretty spicy though.
Makes 16-20 rolls
Ingredients:
FOR PASTRY 3 1/2 cups white flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp West Indian/Caribbean curry powder (alternatively, use turmeric powder) 1/2 cup cold butter 1/2 cup cold shortening
1/2 cup + a few tbs ice cold water
FOR FILLING 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese 1 tsp yellow mustard 1 tsp guava jelly (optional) 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper 1 tbs pepper chutney (alternatively, use 1 scotch bonnet pepper)
FOR PEPPER CHUTNEY 2 scotch bonnet peppers 1/2 cup unripe mango (I used frozen) 3 tbs white vinegar 3 tbs olive oil
1 clove of garlic 1/4 cup fresh cilantro 1 tsp salt
EGGWASH 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp of water
Directions: 1. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, 1 tsp of salt and West Indian curry powder. Stir to combine. Cut the cold butter and shortening into small pieces, and add it to the flour. Using a pastry cutter or potato masher, cut until pea sized clumps form. Add 1/2 cup of ice cold water and knead with your hands to form a dough. If the dough is too crumbly, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a cohesive dough forms.
*This dough can also be made in the food processor by adding the butter and shortening to the flour, pulsing until pea sized clumps are formed, then adding water and pulsing until a dough forms.* 2. Dump the dough onto the counter, and knead very lightly to form a ball. Flatten, then make into a rectangle shape. Wrap in plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge for 30 mins to 1 hour. While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling and pepper chutney. 2. For the chutney, cut and deseed 2 scotch bonnet peppers (be careful as the seeds can burn your skin). Add them to a food processor with the rest of the pepper chutney ingredients. Grind until a chunky sauce is formed. Set aside.
3. In a small mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients for the filling. Mix with a fork until all the cheese is coated with the rest of the ingredients. Taste the filling and adjust it according to your preference. If you are not using the pepper chutney, deseed a scotch bonnet pepper and finely chop it to add to the cheese (adjust this amount according to your spice level). 4. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature (about 10 mins). Cut into 16-20 squares. Roll out a square into a thin rectangle. It should be so thin that it is almost see through. Starting from one edge, spread out a little bit of the cheese mix from top to bottom. Fold the dough over into about one third, and spread some more cheese on the fold. Fold over again, adding more cheese every time you roll until it is sealed. Each cheese roll should be folded 3-4 times, and use about 1 heaping tablespoon of cheese mix in total. The finished roll should look like a large cigar. Use a fork to seal the edges, and poke holes on the top. Repeat with all remaining dough and cheese mix until you are done. 5. Place the cheese rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet. They do not expand much while baking, so they do not need a lot of space between them. Brush with egg wash and bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
