These Chilli Bean Rolls are hands down a firm family favourite. Credit must go to the little sister for coming across the recipe when she was a wee lass, and begging for it to be made. Anything that involved pastry, the word ‘chilli’ and cheese put the cheeky tacker in food-heaven. Despite being able to devour a mind boggling number of these in the one sitting, she remained as thin as a rake: one of those super slender kids who was adorable but also scared the beejesus out of you when you rugby tackled them: a) because you thought you might accidently break them and b) because they actually fought back with a strength you had no idea they had. I seem to recall (although my memory is so foggy at present that it’s like being in the forbidden forest, unable to see your feet in front of you) that the deal was if she wanted them that bad for dinner, she could make them. And so she did.
I’ve jazzed this version up slightly from the original, although it very much remains in the ‘winner of a meal’ category. There’s a tidbit of spinach for a pop of contrasting colour, and so you can feel as though you’re getting a serving of vegetables which let’s be real: you’re not. Extra spices in the form of coriander, cumin and paprika provide an extra depth to the subtle ‘kick’ (note: if you like your chilli hawwwwwt then you probably won’t be able to detect heat at all in these). We’ve got basil leaves because, well, basil is fabbity-fab and why not? But aside from that they do also add an ever so slight sweetness to the filling.
If you just-wanna-have-fun in the kitchen then these rolls are for you. Pretend you’re the hulk while you mash away at those kidney beans (roaring sounds are optional although highly recommended). Get yo David Attenborough on as you add the different ingredients to the bowl, narrating the process (the more alliteration in the description the better). And do your best to multi-task by shaking that booty as you assemble the rolls. Who said cooking needed to be serious? The rolls are damn fun to eat, so why not start the shenanigans earlier with the preparation? *All above ‘techniques’ may or may not have been tried and test. It’s a medically-proven side effect of cooking for oneself and oneself only.
Most of the ingredients are pantry staples (if they’re not, change that), providing the solution for those 8pm ‘who’s-cooking-dinner-I-thought-you-were-heck-okay-better-start-now’ kind of moments. A conversation that doesn’t necessarily need to involve more than one person. Ahem. C’mon we’ve all done it. Or for when you just crave pastry and chilli-fied beans and cheese. You don’t just have to be a little tacker to want that.
Chilli Bean Rolls
Makes 8 rolls (serves 4-8).
Ingredients
2 sheets store bought puff pastry (I used ‘Borg).
1 small egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 ½ cups baby spinach
1x 400g can kidney beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly
50g pizza sauce/paste
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
¾ tsp ground coriander
¾ tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp salt
5 large basil leaves, roughly torn
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Method
Preheat the oven to 200c. Grease and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Set a frying pan over a medium heat and once warm add the spinach leaves. Stir until wilted, about 2 minutes, and remove from the heat.
In a large bowl lightly mash the kidney beans (you still want at least half of the beans whole) and then add the pizza sauce, cheese, coriander, cumin, paprika and salt. Stir well to combine. Now toss in the wilted spinach, torn basil leaves and sweet chilli sauce and fold through.
Using a sharp knife, cut each puff pastry sheet into four squares. Place one eighth of the mixture horizontally across the middle of one of the squares, about 3cm thick and allowing the line to go right to the edges of the pastry. Fold the bottom edge of the pastry up and over the filling, tucking the end slightly under it and then continue to roll the ‘log’ up until you have a nice, neat and relatively tight roll with the seam of the pastry underneath. Transfer to the baking sheet, brush with a little beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat the process until you have 8 rolls on the baking sheet.
Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the rolls have puffed up and are a light golden colour. You may have a little of spillage out of the ends of the rolls, however you can gently push this back in with a teaspoon while the rolls are still hot. Set the baking pan on a wire rack and leave to cool for 3 minutes before serving.
Try serving the rolls with extra sweet chilli sauce, smashed avocado and a salad of your choice.
Left overs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days (either reheat gently in the oven/microwave or serve cold) or can be frozen for up to a month.
Source: A Taste Without Waste original.
Taste Without Waste 