Simple Spinach Tarts!

For Thanksgiving, I was slated to make the appetizers for dinner. I fell in love with this simple recipe for Spinach Tarts. I have never worked with Pillsbury Dough before but it turned out very easy! I'm sure anything cooked with this dough is not good for you but for Thanksgiving all the health concerns go out the window.

The square(ish) of crescent dough pressed into the muffin tin. I'm sure you can guess which ones my husband did and which ones I did...

After you pop open the can of Pillsbury crescent rolls, you carefully mend two triangles of dough into one rectangle of dough. After pressing the dotted crease together, I found it helpful to actually press down on the crease to help it stick together. Then we cut each of the four rectangles into six square(ish) pieces and then put them into the muffin tin. 

Quick cook of the mushrooms

I was a little worried about them rising but they didn't. I'm not sure what is in this delicious dough but it seems to be very easy to work with. We set the muffin tin to the side and cooked the filling of mushroom and spinach with cream cheese. 

Really quick cook of spinach

Added the whole (!) block of cream cheese AND a quarter cup of parmesan cheese

I have also never cooked with cream cheese (beyond the mashed potatoes). It was not very appetizing to see the cheese melt into the pan filled with delicious spinach and mushrooms.

I used the two spoon method in order to stuff all the tarts

Right out of the oven! 

hmmm...yummy

Tips:

1. Chop up all the veggies into small pieces. As you can see, I did not do this and as a result some tarts got a big piece of mushroom and others got none
2. If you're not into cream cheese (we weren't), feel free to add your favorite tomato sauce instead! We made a second batch that was only mushrooms and spinach (finely chopped) and either a spicy tomato sauce or just parmesan cheese. They were a hit! Way more popular than the cream cheese version
3. You could also add herbs to the dough! Add dried rosemary or thyme to the dough to make it more flavorful and rustic! This is a simple recipe that can only be added to!
4. I followed the recipe from Eclecticrecipes.com to a tee and was still a little short on the filling. I would suggest making a little more. And if you have spare, it's delicious!

Mushroom and Spinach Tartlets (from EclecticRecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 teapsoon olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 (8oz) block cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350°. Roll out crescent roll dough and press together the diagonal seems. Cut dough into 32 equal squares. Place small dough squares into a mini-muffin pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.

Drizzle a pre-heated skillet with olive oil. Add chopped spinach, mushrooms and garlic. Saute until mushrooms are tender and spinach has wilted. Remove from heat and add cream cheese, Parmesan and basil. Mix well.

Add 1 heaping teaspoon of filling to each crescent roll dough square. Bake at 350° for 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Tip: For even more flavor, add 1 tablespoon freshly chopped basil and 2 cloves garlic, grated.

Tip: I used a very small muffin tin. Depending on the size of your mini muffin tin, you may choose to cut the dough into 16 instead of 32 squares.