Malawach Pesto Rugelach with Goat Cheese
Sometimes I find that the simpler and most delicious recipes I come up with happen by accident. While working on a separate pesto recipe (which will be posted later in the week) I thought of this recipe, for rugelach made out of malawach! I’m so glad I added this one to my week of pesto recipes because this happens to be my favorite one, and I think it’s going to be yours too.
One of the reasons I was so excited to attempt this pesto recipe was that you don’t have to make the dough, and it’s already in the perfect round shape you need for making rugelach. Not to mention how delicious I thought it would be…and it was. So. Very. Delicious.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with malawach, it’s a fried bread that is a staple of the Yemenite Jews. It resembles a thick pancake, and consists of thin layers of puff pastry-sounds pretty good right? It is!
This would make a great appetizer for a party. You can assemble and keep them in the fridge, then pop them in the oven before guests arrive. They come out looking so pretty and are sure to be a crowd pleaser!
Here are some photos to help you along the way 🙂
- Lay out the thawed malawach dough and place on parchment paper
- Using a pastry brush, coat the top with pesto.
- Use a pizza cutter to cut into eight triangles.
- Place goat cheese on top of each triangle.
- Place 1 quartered tomato on the edge of each piece.
- Starting at the outer edge, roll towards the center.
Place on a baking sheet seam side down. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake until golden!
You can find the recipe for my homemade pesto HERE.
- 1 sheet of malawach, defrosted
- ½ tablespoon pesto (more or less to your liking)
- goat cheese, amount according to your liking
- 4 grape tomatoes, quartered
- Egg wash for garnish
- Sesame seeds for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- Place defrosted malawach on clean surface and brush with pesto.
- With a pizza cutter, cut the circle into eight equal wedges.
- Crumble goat cheese evenly over the entire malawach. Then, place one quarter of a tomato closest to the wide wedge of each malawach triangle. Starting with the wide edge, roll each triangle towards center. Place each rugelach, seam side down, on lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly golden.
