Arugula Pesto, Spicy Pork, And Spinach Pockets

  1. To make the pork: Finely dice 3 cloves of the garlic. Slice up the onion crosswise, as thinly as possible.
  2. Pour the olive oil into a wide pan, and let it heat for a minute over medium heat. Add the onion, and let it sweat for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic, and saute another minute.
  3. Add the golden raisins to the pan, and stir to coat them in the garlic/onion mixture. Cook for a few minutes, until they begin to plump.
  4. Add the ground pork. (Note: Hopefully your pan is wide enough so that it isn't too packed. Otherwise, you can cook in batches; you want the pork to brown, not steam.) Let the pork brown a little in parts, before you stir it around. Cook until the pork is no longer pink.
  5. Add the harissa, 1/2 tablespoon of salt, and a little crack of black pepper. Stir to combine. (You can always adjust the harissa and salt based on your preferences.) Remove the pork from the heat and set it aside.
  6. Make the spinach: Empty the spinach into a pot. Add a few tablespoons of water, put the lid on the pot, and set the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes, or until it's wilty. Add the cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. (If the spinach is very wet, drain it.)
  7. Make the pesto: Roast the garlic cloves. (I rub the cloves in a little bit of olive oil, wrap them in aluminum foil, and toss them into a 350u0b0 F oven for about 20 minutes. However, if you are cooking something else in the oven the day of or night before, use the heat of that oven to roast the cloves.) Peel the cloves, and let them cool.
  8. Toast the hazelnuts. (You can do this as you roast the garlic, if you like. I keep the hazelnuts in a 350u0b0 F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, shaking them around in the pan once or twice during cooking. Remove them from the oven when they are light brown in spots, and smell toasty.) Wait for them to cool.
  9. I use a microplane grater to shred the Pecorino. I grate enough to fill 1/2 cup, not at all packed. However, if you use a larger-holed cheese grater, I might stop somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 cup.
  10. Move the (cooled) hazelnuts to a food processor. Pulse for about 1 minute, or until the hazelnuts are reduced to dust.
  11. Add the arugula, the garlic, the Pecorino, the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a healthy crack of black pepper to the food processor. Blend for about a minute, slowly adding the olive oil as it whirs. Stop when you achieve a 'creamy' texture.
  12. Make the parcels: Remove the puff pastry from the freezer about 1 hour before you'd like to use it. Preheat the oven to 400u0b0 F. Let a baking sheet get hot in the preheating oven.
  13. Use a cookie cutter to make circles in the puff pasty, about 3 inches in diameter. Dot a small portion each of pesto, spinach, ground pork, and goat cheese into the center of each circle. Brush a little water onto the edge of half of each circle, and then bring the other half to it to form half-circle parcels. Use a fork to seal the halves. Make an egg wash with the yolk and a bit of water; brush the top of each parcel with the wash.
  14. Take the baking sheet out of the oven -- it should be hot. Move the parcels to the baking sheet, being careful not to burn yourself in the process. Cut 2 to 3 slits into each parcel, so steam can escape.
  15. Bake the parcels for about 10 to 13 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Let them rest for a few minutes before enjoying.

olive oil, garlic, white onion, golden raisins, ground pork, harissa, kosher salt, black pepper, fresh spinach, cider vinegar, lemon juice, hazelnuts, pecorino cheese, arugula, olive oil, pastry, egg yolk

Taken from food52.com/recipes/19341-arugula-pesto-spicy-pork-and-spinach-pockets (may not work)

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