ediblecentraloregon.com | 9 WILD MUSHROOM AND CAPOCOLLO PESTO PINWHEELS Cooking time: 10–15 minutes Feeds 10 I love making my own pesto, because most storebought brands are cut with seed oils, such as sunflower. Fresh pesto is made with olive oil, and the flavor is rich and peppery if you use an extra virgin olive oil. I use six ingredients; that’s all you need. Pesto can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for about 2 weeks, or you can freeze it for 6 months. These pesto pinwheels are a simple and delicious appetizer to show off to friends. For a vegan option, remove the capocollo and replace the Gruyère cheese with nondairy cheese. INGREDIENTS 1 (17.5-ounce) box puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed 6 to 7 ounces pesto, homemade (recipe follows) or store-bought, divided 4 ounces packaged capocollo, divided 1 cup diced wild chanterelle or cremini mushrooms, divided ½ cup shredded Gruyère cheese, divided 1 cup chopped spinach, divided INSTRUCTIONS Start 25 charcoal briquettes. Line 12-inch Dutch oven with nonstick aluminum foil. Unfold one puff pastry sheet onto parchment paper. With a spatula, spread half the pesto over the pastry, leaving ¼ inch plain along one long end. In this order, top the pesto with half the capocollo, half the mushrooms, half the cheese, and half the spinach. Roll the ingredients in the pastry, pinching the pastry on the one end with no pesto so it sticks. With a sharp knife, slice into 1-inch-thick rounds. Place the rounds in the Dutch oven in a circular pattern. Repeat with the remaining puff pastry sheet and remaining ingredients and place in the Dutch oven. Put the lid on the Dutch, set it over 9 hot coals, and top with remaining 16 coals. After 10 to 15 minutes, when you start to smell pesto and cheese, check for doneness. If the pinwheels are brown on top, then take off the coals and serve while hot. HOMEMADE PESTO 1½ cups coarsely chopped basil 3 cloves garlic, minced ¾ cup pine nuts ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts, oil, and salt in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the cheese and pulse for a few more seconds. Store in a container with a lid. Pesto will start to turn brown after two weeks. It’s still good, just mix it before using. The pesto can be frozen and used later. Alternative: Make the pesto nut-free by using pepitas instead of pine nuts or dairy-free by omitting the cheese. Excerpted from The Outfitter’s Camp Cookbook by Mia Sheppard, published by Harvard Common Press. Reprinted with permission. Photo by Arian Stevens
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