Pastelitos-Guava and Cheese Pastries
Pastelitos-guava and cheese pastries. A delicious Cuban pastry made with puff pastry and filled with guava paste and mascarpone or cream cheese. My youngest daughter loves this pastry.
I found guava paste in the 99cent store and thought I have nothing to lose so I grabbed it. After researching what to do with guava paste, I saw these beautiful Pastelitos-guava and cheese pastries and got busy in the kitchen. Cut a slice for yourself to snack on while making these Pastelitos. Guava paste is like a gummy bear in texture or super thick jam. The flavor is a combination of strawberry, pear and mango. Very tropical!
If you can’t find mascarpone don’t worry, just use cream cheese or crème fraiche. If you can’t do dairy, it’s perfectly fine to leave the cheese off.
After doing a little further digging into pastelitos I have found there are a few more fillings that would be delicious. On the sweet side-pineapple or coconut. Usually, the cheese filling is slightly sweetened. On the savory side it’s usually beef, sometimes chicken or ham and cheese. The meat is seasoned in a tomato based sauced, but not spicy. Like a picadillo it can have green olives or even raisins in the filling.
Pastelitos-Guava and Cheese Pastry
Ingredients
- 1 box puff pastry-thawed
- 1 package guava paste
- 1 container mascarpone or cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375' and lower rack to 1 notch below the bottom.
- Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and then lay out puff pastry dough on cookie sheet.
- Slice guava paste 1/4" thick. You should be able to get 8 pastries from 1 box of puff pastry. Lay guava paste slices on top of puff pastry about 1" apart. See picture in the post if you need a visual.
- Put cheese slices or spread cheese on top of guava paste.
- Make an egg wash with your egg. You can add a little water if you want. Brush the egg wash between the guava paste on your puff pastry. Lay the other puff pastry sheet over the top. Similar to making ravioli. Seal the pastry sheets together pressing down where you put the egg wash.
- Using a pizza cutter slice your pastries apart into rectangles. Pressing to make sure you sealed the edges. Brush the egg wash on top of each pastry . Add some ventilation slashes to each pastry and top with granulated sugar.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and puffed. Cool enough to handle them before eating. These reheat perfectly in the air fryer!