Puff Pastry Appetizers with Goat Cheese
December 30, 2009 • Appetizers,
I spent the last two days shopping and cooking for the New Year’s Eve extravaganza dinner I’m throwing for 16 friends tomorrow night – 10 courses to ring in 2010, a tradition I started with 7 courses to ring in 2007. When you plan a meal with this many courses, you need to ensure that each is really a tapas portion, and I like to start with a simple amuse bouche that can be eaten with your fingers in one bite. This puff pastry morsel will be prefect as a starter.
You start with puff pastry sheets, which I always buy frozen from Pepperidge Farm. I once made puff pastry in a pastry class at Cook Street – while it was interesting to see how it’s done, I never want to do it again! Roll the dough out just a tiny bit on a lightly floured surface.
Here’s the secret step – cut out small pieces with a cookie cutter, then using a smaller cutter, press a ring into the center of the dough, but not cutting all the way through.
After you bake them for about 10-13 minutes, pull them out and notice the ring you cut in the center. Use the tip of a small knife to gently lift this piece of pastry out.You can either save that small piece to top off your appetizer, or what I decided to do for mine is to turn that piece upside down and tuck it back into the shell you’ve now created.
Fill the center with some cheese – I used a goat cheese with herbs, but plain goat cheese or brie would also be great.
Bake them again until the cheese is warmed through, then top with a small dollop of Green Tomato Relish or fig jam. Don’t know what to serve for appetizers at your party tomorrow night? These are easy and tasty and I promise will be a hit!
- 1 sheet of Pepperidge Farms puff pastry sheets (1/2 package), thawed
- 4 ounces goat cheese (or brie)
- Green Tomato Relish (or fig jam)
- Cut out 2 inch rounds of puff pastry using a cookie cutter, then gently press a 1 ince round into the center to make a ring, taking care not to cut all the way through the dough. Lay on a Silpat liner or parchment paper on a baking sheet and back at 375 degrees untly just barely golden, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and use the tip of a small knife to carefully remove the "lid" from the center, turn it upside down and press it back into the hole. Fill hole with a small about of cheese and return to the oven to bake for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is warmed through. Remove from oven and top each puff pastry with a small amount of green tomato relish and serve warm.
Comments
5 Comments • Comments Feed
Juju says:
Sounds awesome! I love it!
December 30, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Ciaochowlinda says:
This is a great idea and so adorable too. I’m always looking for other places to use my fig jam, other than on toast or in a crostata.
January 2, 2010 at 9:36 pm
ziegen milch says:
I really love goat cheese desserts, their are awesome. If I have guests, I just make goat cheese deserts and they love it. Are there any other good uses for goat cheese?
April 2, 2010 at 5:10 am
Bob I says:
TRY a stuffing a tomato with goat cheese and fried sage. I cook them on the grill while my entree is finishing on the same grill. Usually on a gas grill, put them on the unlit side with the top down. Or you could honestly just nuke them to get the cheese and tomato warm. Great side.
July 16, 2017 at 2:14 pm
Bob I says:
Good recipe. The cutting of the filling hole did not work, so I just used a hobbyist knife to cut a hole in the crust and with the top off, push the inside down to make a bigger crater. Goat cheese, fried sage, and minced sun dried tomato. Wife loved them.
July 16, 2017 at 2:11 pm