Guava Turnovers

My grandpa recently visited from California and brought with him about 25 lbs of guavas for his only granddaughter. I love guavas and normally would never even contemplate changing the flavor by cooking them, however, 25 lbs. is even too much for me to eat before they go bad. I should mention I had just finished a 10 lb. shipment a couple of weeks earlier.

So, although I still very much prefer the plain fruit straight from the tree, these turnovers turned out quite well.

Guava Turnovers

Yields: 8 large turnovers

Ingredients:

·         2 Sheets of Frozen Puff Pastry, Thawed

·         2 lbs. Guavas, peeled and halved

·         ¼ C. Sugar

·         2 tsp. Lemon Juice

·         1/3 C. + 1 Tbsp. Water

·         1 Egg

Directions:

1.       Roll out 2 sheets of puff pastry to about 12” x 12”

2.       Cut each sheet into 4 squares, place on parchment covered cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.

3.       Combine guavas, sugar, lemon juice, and 1/3 C. water in a saucepan.

4.       Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved.

5.       Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until fruit is tender, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes (this will vary depending on the ripeness of your guavas, mine were quite ripe already).

6.       Uncover and allow liquid to reduce, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

7.       Remove from heat, mash guavas, leaving small lumps.

8.       Place about 2 Tbsp. of guava mixture into center of cold puff pastry square. Fold square diagonally over mixture forming a triangle. Repeat with remaining 7 puff pastry squares. Cover and place in refrigerator while you preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

9.       Mix 1 egg and 1 Tbsp. water in small bowl to brush onto turnover.

10.    When oven is ready, take cold turnovers out of refrigerator, cut slits into the top of each triangle, brush with egg/water mixure, and sprinkle generously with sugar.

11.    Bake at 400 degrees F. for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

12.    Cool on rack and serve at room temperature.