Pesto Potato Pinwheels: feeding a crowd

Everyone is occasionally faced with making food for a group of people. Some people, like me, might think of this as an opportunity; others, a challenge.  Part of the challenge is making something that there will be enough of to go around (without having to spend all day slaving over a hot stove), but another part of the challenge is to make something that everyone can enjoy, regardless of their varying tastes and dietary needs.  Enter these Pesto Potato Pinwheels.  They're not completely perfect; they have puff pastry, which has butter in it so your vegans will object (although vegan puff pastry exists, but from the looks of it you'll probably have to make your own), and likewise with gluten-free puff pastry, although that appears to be purchasable.  But if you need to make those adjustments, then this will still work - obviously if you are vegan, you already don't use parmesan cheese when making pesto, and if you use some kind of pretend cheese, I don't really want to know about it.  What you do in the privacy of your home is your own business.

But look, this has basically 3 ingredients: puff pastry, potatoes, and pesto.  The pesto is made up of, if you're being traditional, basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan, and pinenuts, and you can make it so fast in a food processor that it doesn't even bear talking about.  Puff pastry is way less fussy than phyllo - you just let it thaw out and then unfold it - and who can't mash a potato?  Seriously, this is going to be a snap, and it makes tons.

And they look all fancy when you're done! Like little carby shrimp.  Oh, well I guess that's one group that will not be made happy by this as a nibblie - your anti-carb brigade.  But those people don't get invited to parties since they aren't any fun.

So the next time you've got a bunch of people coming over and you want to class up the joint (please, I know what you're normally like) with very little expenditure of effort, give these Pesto Potato Pinwheels a shot!