When I taught English, I'd have my students write odes to objects, people, or places that they truly loved. I'd do the exercise along with them and for me, those odes always turned out to be about food. Big surprise. One of my favorite students told me one spring that it was a good thing I ran marathons otherwise he thought I could potentially be quite round. Thanks, Ryan. Your grade didn't suffer for that at all. Not one bit. So while I've been out of the classroom now for almost two years and while I haven't written an ode in quite sometime, I thought I'd write a dedication to Nutella today. Because frankly, I'm obsessed with the stuff. This is beyond a playful ode. This is serious.

I think the first time I had Nutella was in my college dorm and little individual packets were being passed around the hall. Someone's mom had sent a pretty stellar care package. I tracked down the source and made friends with Liz. Thankfully, her mom just kept sending those care packages. In graduate school, my friend Laura jazzed up her brownies with Nutella. For reasons other than this (although this counts as a firm reason), I'm devastated we now live across the country from one another. And when I lived in Boston suffering through those long winters, I'd "spike" my coffee with spoonfuls of Nutella. I'm convinced it helped me get through many a long night of studying.

The history of Nutella is an interesting one. It was created in the late 1940's by Pietro Fierro. Because of war rationing, there wasn't an abundance of cocoa and Fierro was a pastry maker in dire need of a rich spread to use with his baked goods. He decided to mix in hazelnuts to serve almost as a filler and to stretch out the chocolate supply. According to the Nutella homepage, the treat was originally called "pasta gianduja"--gianduja being a carnival character infamous in the Italian region of Piedmont and pasta denoting that it was a paste. At the time, it was made in small loaves so you could slice it and place it right on bread like a piece of cheese or a cold cut (Dear Nutella manufacturers, let's bring this one back!) Nutella began to make its way from Italy to the United States in the early 80's, and you know the rest of the story.

Today, Nutella's popularity has reached cult status in some circles. Major grocery stores stock it. Some folks are getting Nutella tattoos. Food bloggers adore it. There is, in fact, a World Nutella Day each year on February 5th. Meredith Stubbs of Food52 recently considered Nutella in her column for the New York Times, The New Staples. It's big. It's undeniable.

The one bummer about Nutella is that it does contain hydrogenated oils (another reason to make your own using my friend Shannalee's homemade Nutella recipe). Last time I checked, this is the reason my local Whole Foods doesn't stock it. For awhile, I'd buy a more expensive version of Nutella that did not contain hydrogenated oils but it was almost three times the cost. So I rationalize the treat a few ways: I either use recipes that emulate the flavor of Nutella by using good cocoa and ground hazelnuts or I think of Nutella very much as a treat. I try not to buy it all that often and when I do have it around, I try and do something special with it rather than just eat it spoonful by spoonful out of the jar--although that can prove to be pretty special, too. So recently I made a Nutella puff pastry that would fall into the ridiculously easy yet special category.

It's almost less of a recipe than it is a vehicle with which to enjoy a little Nutella. Regardless, it'll please crowds of coworkers, families, significant others, small dogs. You name it.

Nutella Puff Pastry
This recipe was inspired by a recipe for Chocolate-Almond Pastries in the December ‘09 issue of Martha Stewart Magazine. I gave it new life by using hazelnuts and Nutella. It’s a versatile recipe–you could easily use any combination of nuts, dried fruits, and chocolates. Next time I make it, I’m going to add a few dollops of Mascarpone cheese to finish it off.

Makes: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3 package), thawed
1 large egg, beaten for an egg wash
7 oz. Nutella (roughly half of a 13 oz. jar)
1 Tbsp. sugar for sanding the crust
Fleur de sel (or fine sea salt) for finishing
4 Tbsp. whole hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Arrange puff pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Form a 10-inch square and fold each edge in to make a 1-inch crust. Poke middle of dough numerous times with a fork. Brush edges of dough with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Freeze for fifteen minutes.
3. Transfer baking sheet to oven and bake until pastry is puffed and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and spread Nutella evenly across the pastry. The Nutella will begin to melt, making it much easier to spread.
5. Sprinkle with sea salt and hazelnuts and cut into 4 squares or 6 triangles. Serve warm.

Turnovers are often forgotten in the dessert world. Tarts and pies steal the show when it comes to articles, cookbook recipes, and blogs, but turnovers are just as sweet and delicious, and portable to boot. Like their bigger and more prevalent cousins, turnovers are simply cooked fruit encased in buttery pastry dough. Yet unlike the tart and pie, you don’t need to slice them, set them on a plate, or make a presentation out of serving them. Sure you could plop some ice cream or whipped cream next to one and set a mint leaf on it, but you could just as easily wrap it in a napkin and stick it in your pocket for later. This is why turnovers (both the savory and sweet variety) are also referred to as pocket pies.

Portability makes turnovers the perfect dessert for a variety of occasions. They're a great choice for parties where people will be milling about instead of sitting down. They're also ideal for putting in kids' lunches, packing for picnics, or taking on car or airline trips. But you don't need an occasion to make turnovers; they're great any time.

Turnovers are incomparably delicious when made with homemade puff pastry, but very few of us have the time or inclination to make puff pastry from scratch. Although you can create a nice turnover with homemade pie crust, I prefer puff pastry's flaky texture for the finished product and so I opt for frozen store-bought sheets. If you have time to make your own puff pastry or know of a shop where you can buy it, you'll be in for an extravagant indulgence when you bite into your luscious turnover. But if you're like me and usually have only the frozen stuff available, you will still reap the rewards of a buttery and fruity treat.

To make fruit turnovers, simply create a bowlful of whatever pie filling you like most. I am partial to apple and cherry turnovers, but blueberries, pecans, and pureed pumpkin are also great fillings. Anything you would stick into a baked pie or tart will work. You then scoop the filling into cut pieces of puff pastry, seal and bake. That's it.

There's no reason dessert has to be a plated affair. So the next time you're taking a road trip, want to put something extra special in your child's lunch, or you're simply in the mood for a sweet pocket pie, make some very easy and delicious turnovers.

A few tips to making turnovers:
1. You can cut your dough into circles or squares to make either half moon or triangle turnovers.
2. Overstuffing the dough will make the turnovers pop open and the juices will all ooze out, so be careful to leave room for crimping the edges of the dough.
3. If your dough is dry, you may want to seal the edges with an egg wash.
4. If you want your turnovers to be glossy, brush with an egg wash before baking.
5. Sprinkling sugar on the outside gives the turnovers a sweet crispness.
6. To perk up cold turnovers, simply warm them in a heated oven for about five minutes. This will recrisp the outside and warm the fruit filling.

Apple Turnovers

Makes: 9 turnovers

Turnover Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
2 cups diced apples cut into 1/4-inch squares (you can use Granny Smith, Fuji, Golden Delicious or any other firm apple)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping Ingredients:
1 egg scrambled
2 Tbsp white sugar

Preparation:
1. Bring puff pastry to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Cut up apples and place in a bowl with the lemon juice so they don't become brown.
4. Combine apples with sugar, flour and cinnamon.
5. Roll out pastry dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12- by 12-inch square and then cut it into 9 equal pieces.
6. Scoop apple mixture onto the lower half of each square, being sure not to overfill.
7. Turn the upper half of the dough over the apple mixture and pinch the ends. If the dough doesn't seal, you can lightly coat the edges with an egg wash and then press them down.
8. Lay the filled dough onto a baking sheet and coat each turnover with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
9. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 12 - 18 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. Serve immediately or store for later use.