Chocolate and Strawberry Pastries

Chocolate and strawberries and a great combo and they make your palette sing. Add in some puff pastry and you have one heck of a great dessert.

• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 package frozen puff pastry - thaw to manufacturer's specifications
• 1/2 to one cup Nestle semi-sweet chocolate bits
• 3/4 cup strawberry jam (if you don't have this use a raspberry jam)
• 1 tbsp. sugar (if your berries are somewhat tart)
• 1 egg and 1 tbsp. water for an egg wash 

1. Thaw the pastry sheets according to the package directions. Lightly flour the surface of your counter or as in my case, a pastry board.
2. With a pizza cutter or knife, cut the puff pastry 3 times lengthwise: follow the lines of the folds.
3. Then cut 5 equal sections across.
4. Chop the strawberries.
5. Heat the strawberry jam in the microwave until smooth. About 2 minutes. Stir well.
6. Add the chopped strawberries and mix to combine.
7. Place 1 tsp. of the strawberry mixture on each square.
8. Pull up each corner of the pastry square to the middle and give it a twist. Press it down to hold in place.
9. Brush each square with the egg wash prior to baking.
10. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and bake for about another 10 minutes until the pastry is puffed and a nice golden brown.
11. While the pastry is baking melt the chocolate bits in the microwave or in a double boiler until smooth.
12. When the pastries come out of the oven, they may be opened up, but that's okay.
13. To plate use any left over berries and jam on the plate and then drizzle the chocolate over the top of each pastry or put a smear of it along side.