Parmesan Pepper Pinwheels

It's almost worth making something with puff pastry sheets just to have some leftover strips that can be turned into these cheese-filled pinwheels.   They make a very cute amuse-bouche offering with a glass of red wine.  The ones shown here were made leftover puff pastry scraps from a larger puff pastry project, a turnover stuffed with roasted fall vegetables. 

Here's the recipe for Parmesan Pepper Pinwheels using a full sheet of puff pastry.  Once you see how easy they are to assemble, you can make up little batches from pastry scraps wihtout measuring.  Just grate a small amount of cheese onto leftover strips and finishing with a bit of black pepper or any other spice you like.  Roll up, bake and enjoy. 

Parmesan Pepper Pinwheels
Yield: 24-26 pinwheels

Ingredients
1 sheet puff pastry (store bought is fine, defrost an hour ahead if frozen)
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon black pepper
water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400˚K.  
2. On a floured board or counter top, roll out puff pastry so that it measures about 14" X 14" or so.  (Exact measure is not crucial; just get the pastry a little flattened out.)  Brush away any excess flour.  
3. Leaving about 1/2 inch of one edge uncovered, sprinkle cheese over pastry to coat evenly.  Repeat with black pepper.  
4. With a pizza cutter or butter knife, cut pastry into strips no wider than 1/2 inch.  (You can cut thinner strips for more delicate and more pinwheels.) 
5. Roll each strip up to form a wheel, starting from the coated edge and rolling toward the un-coated edge.  
6. Wet the un-coated edge of pastry to seal the pastry to itself.  
7. Place pinwheels on a baking sheet --no need to grease-- and bake for 12-15 minutes until pinwheels are crisp and pastry at center of each is cooked through.