Puffy Lobster Turnovers

December preparations, gingerbread smell as decoration, Will's first Christmas approaching, guest room ready with cradle. The week was the life. The life was the cooking. The cooking was the love. And the love was the week, and the week was one of the weeks that stack together to become the years, and the years become the life, and the life is the woman at the stove who cooks and writes and loves and does not stop.

I made she-crab soup on Sunday — the anchor, the constant, the practice. The soup was perfect. The perfection was the practice. And the practice continues, one Sunday at a time, one bowl at a time, one life at a time, the woman stirring, the roux thickening, the kitchen warm, the family fed, the love alive.

The she-crab soup had already done its Sunday work — the roux, the stirring, the quiet ceremony of it — but a week as full as this one, with the cradle waiting and the gingerbread warming the whole house, called for something to carry into the evenings, something festive enough to match the season and rich enough to feel like a gift. These Puffy Lobster Turnovers are exactly that: golden and buttery, a little extravagant, the kind of thing you make when the life around you feels worth celebrating in every small, deliberate way.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 12 turnovers

Ingredients

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
8 oz cooked lobster meat, roughly chopped
3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh chives, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, lemon juice, chives, Old Bay, salt, and white pepper. Stir until smooth, then fold in the chopped lobster meat until evenly coated.
Cut the pastry. On a lightly floured surface, unfold the puff pastry sheet and roll it gently to smooth any creases. Cut into 12 equal squares, approximately 3 inches each.
Fill and seal. Place a heaping teaspoon of lobster filling in the center of each square. Fold each square diagonally to form a triangle. Press the edges firmly together with your fingers, then crimp with a fork to seal completely.
Apply the egg wash. Arrange the turnovers on the prepared baking sheet. Brush each one with beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt.
Bake. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until the turnovers are deeply golden and puffed. Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes before serving — the filling will be very hot.

Nutrition (per serving)

Puffy Lobster Turnovers — The Seafood Tradition That Holds the Week Together