Flakey, buttery cheese straws

Unitards, scrunchies and legwarmers might be best left in the 80s, but cheese twists are a worthy revival. 

That was my verdict a few weeks ago, when a bunch of friends came round for drinks before we went out to celebrate my birthday. 

A school reunion had taken up most of the day, and when I came back late afternoon and had to shove any mess under the bed and sofa tidy the house, there wasn't much time left for canapés.  

So I defrosted some puff pastry, grated some top-quality very mature cheddar (but Parmesan is a good alternative), cracked an egg and made these really easy cheese twists. They only take ten minutes, and were gobbled up almost as quickly.

Ingredients

350g pack rolled puff pastry

five handfuls grated cheese (mature cheddar or parmesan work well)

handful plain flour 

pepper

1 egg yolk

Method

Heat the oven to 180 degrees; roll out the puff pastry to a large rectangle. Sprinkle with all the cheese bar one handful, then fold the pastry in half and roll out again.

When it is the thickness of a button, cut into strips of about 1cm wide, and 10 to 15cm-long. Twist each one three times, then lay on a baking sheet, brush with egg yolk, and dot with the remaining cheese and scatter with pepper (if desired, can add chilli flakes).Bake for 10 to 15 mins, or until golden brown.