Spinach Cheese Wreath

Back a few years ago, my niece had a Pampered Chef party and invited me to come check it out since she knew I enjoyed cooking. So I figured I would stop by for a while and show her some support but didn't plan on buying anything really.

Somehow a few hours later I left with over $500 worth of Pampered Chef cookware and gadgets. Not really sure how that happened, I think someone slipped something in my drink and took advantage of my cookware coma. Nevertheless I have been quite pleased with the items I purchased, most of all the pizza stone. I am not really sure how I got through the years prior to owning a pizza stone, and I highly suggest you get one, Pampered Chef or otherwise.

So this past weekend, I decided to pull out the trusty stone and do a little baking. As if we didn't already have enough food in the fridge left over from Thanksgiving. But quite frankly, I was tired of turkey, ham, and sides, didn't feel like re-creating a Pinterest worthy dish out of leftover turkey, and just had a hankerin' for something different.

I made a spinach cheese wreath, which I have made several times a year ever since I got the pizza stone. The basis of the recipe comes from the Pampered Chef cookbook, although I make small variations to the recipe each time I make it depending on what I am in the mood for or what I have in the fridge. Here is the one I made last night....

Ingredients

2 packages of crescent rolls (16 total rolls) Leave in fridge until ready to use.
10 ozs frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1 can of artichoke hearts
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 6 oz. package of feta cheese
1/3 cup of parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of mayo
1 egg
1 clove of garlic, minced or sliced paper thin.
1 tomato
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation

Chop the spinach (if you didn't buy pre-chopped) and the artichoke hearts and put in a mixing bowl. Add the mayo, mozzarella, parmesan, feta cheese, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix well until all ingredients are incorporated.

Remove the crescent rolls from the fridge and open and unroll. Arrange the first package of rolls in a circle on the pizza stone with the pointy ends facing outward. Do the same with the second package of rolls filling in the gaps between the first circle. A smaller version of it would look basically like this on your stone (or pan): 

 

Then spoon your cheesy mixture onto the thickest part of the dough on your wreath. Once you have made a complete circle with your mixture you are now ready for the tomato. Cut your tomato into slices, and then cut each slice in half length-wise. Place the tomato slices in a circle on top of the cheese spinach mixture.

 

Once this is complete, take a pointed edge of a crescent roll and fold it over the mixture in a clockwise direction. Do this with every other cresecent roll. Then fold over counter-clockwise the remaining crescent rolls. This will give you a braided look to your wreath. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

 

I didn't take any pictures last night of the wreath I made, so here is a couple I gleaned from the internet to give you an idea. I will take pictures next time I make one and replace these.

 

 

There are multiple ingredients you can use in this. I have previously made mine with a mix of swiss and mozarella cheese. Other ingredient options to consider:

 

Mushrooms

Pancetta

Ham

Sausage

Green Onion

Peppers

 

You can omit or add as your tastebuds prefer. It really is a versatile dish and awesomely delicious. Plus once you get the braid down, it makes quite an impression when friends or family are over for dinner. Another option is to use an egg white to brush over the whole outer roll and then sprinkle with slivered almonds, as seen above.

Enjoy!