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Napoleons with Red Peppers, Asparagus, Feta and Red Pepper Sauce

Layered puff pastry with eggs, asparagus, feta, roasted red pepper, and red pepper sauce.

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Why it works: Feta cheese and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,003 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Oven375°F
Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare the pastry

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

  2. Open the puff pastry sheet out flat.

  3. Slice the pastry sheet in half across the three fold lines.

  4. Cut the halved sheet into three strips along the fold lines to make six pastry rectangles.

  5. Reserve two of the pastry rectangles for another use.

  6. Place the remaining four pastry pieces on the baking sheet.

  7. Bake the pastry pieces for 15 minutes.

  8. Remove the pastry from the oven and set aside.

Make the red pepper sauce

  1. Rinse the two roasted red peppers.

  2. Cut four strips of the roasted peppers to the size of the pastry pieces and set aside.

  3. Put the remaining roasted peppers into a blender or food processor with 1/2 cup milk or soymilk.

  4. Puree the mixture until smooth.

  5. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

  6. Stir in the flour until well blended.

  7. Add the remaining milk to the saucepan.

  8. Continue cooking until the mixture starts to boil.

  9. Reduce the heat to low.

  10. Stir in the puréed peppers, salt, and pepper.

  11. Stir occasionally until ready to serve.

Cook the eggs and steam the asparagus

  1. Steam the asparagus spears until tender, about 5 minutes.

  2. Set the steamed asparagus aside.

  3. Spray a 10-inch skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat the skillet over medium heat.

  4. Beat the eggs.

  5. Stir the beaten eggs into the skillet and cook until set, lifting the edges so any uncooked eggs run underneath.

  6. Turn the cooked eggs onto a large plate.

  7. Slice the eggs into four uniform rectangles.

  8. Reserve any remaining cooked egg for another use.

Assemble and serve

  1. Cut each baked pastry piece in half lengthwise.

  2. Layer an egg rectangle, one tablespoon of cheese, one roasted pepper rectangle, and four asparagus spears onto one half of the pastry.

  3. Top the layered half with the remaining pastry piece.

  4. Repeat the layering until all ingredients are used up.

  5. Bake the assembled Napoleons for 7 to 10 minutes, or until heated through.

  6. Remove the Napoleons from the oven.

  7. Place each Napoleon on an individual serving plate.

  8. Top each serving with about 1 1/4 cup of the red pepper sauce.

  9. Sprinkle each serving with equal amounts of remaining feta cheese.

  10. Serve hot.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Feta cheese + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,003 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Milk + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Feta cheese + buttertop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together237 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Asparagus + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Butter + flourtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together122,858 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 122,858 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Puff pastry
Bakes into flaky, layered sheets that give each Napoleon its structure.
Eggs
Cook and set into firm layers that add body and richness to the stack.
Asparagus
Provides tender, bright green vegetable layers that give the stack its texture.
Feta cheese
Adds salty, tangy flavor and crumbly texture to the layers and topping.
Roasted red peppers
Add sweetness and color to the layers and the smooth sauce.
All-purpose flour
Thickens the milk and butter mixture into a smooth, creamy sauce.

The step that matters

Cooking the eggs until just set. Eggs cook quickly and turn rubbery when overcooked. Lifting the edges lets uncooked egg flow underneath, giving a thin, tender sheet that holds its shape in the stack.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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