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Bloodied Puff Pastry Hand

17/11/2023

The “Bloodied Puff Pastry Hand” is a perfect dish for a horror-themed party, such as Halloween, and it relies on the use of puff pastry to recreate a macabre appearance. Here is an Italian variation of this idea, enriched with ingredients that are easily available to us.

Ingredients

  • 1 rectangular roll of puff pastry
  • 100 g of cooked ham in a single slice
  • 100 g of Fontina type cheese
  • Black olives
  • 1 egg yolk
  • Tomato sauce (preferably thick) or ketchup to simulate blood

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
  2. Roll out the puff pastry and cut out the shape of a hand. You can help yourself by first drawing the outline on a piece of paper, placing it on top of the pastry, and cutting along the edges.
  3. In the area that would represent the palm of the hand, place a slice of cooked ham and a piece of cheese, leaving a free edge around.
  4. Place another hand-shaped layer of puff pastry over the one with the ham and cheese, sealing the edges well so the filling doesn’t leak out during cooking.
  5. With the help of a knife, lightly score the pastry to simulate the folds of the hand and the separations between the fingers.
  6. To create a more realistic effect, you can roll a piece of pastry to make a “nail” on each finger and attach it by pressing lightly.
  7. Beat the egg yolk and brush the entire surface of the puff pastry hand gently. This will give it a nice golden color once baked.
  8. Add half a black olive to each “nail” to simulate dirt under the nails or to generally make the appearance more disturbing.
  9. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the pastry becomes golden and crispy.
  10. Serve the puff pastry hand with tomato sauce or ketchup on the side to imitate blood.

Interesting Facts

This dish can also be prepared with various fillings, such as spinach and ricotta or spiced ground meat, to adapt it to personal tastes and make it perfect for the festive occasion.

Remember that the puff pastry will puff up during cooking, so the flatter and more even the filling, the better the final result will be in terms of the hand’s shape. Have fun and enjoy this dish with an appearance so scary but an irresistible taste!