Savory Puff Pastry Delights

Sometimes you want to present something special, but don’t really have the time or motivation to spend hours in the kitchen (especially during the holidays). With prepared puff pastry (found in your grocer’s frozen food section), you can make flakey, gorgeous appetizers that are both easy-to-make and very impressive.

1 pkg. frozen puff pastry (defrosted to room temperature)
8 oz. blue Stilton cheese
honey (for drizzling)
1 block of Halloumi cheese (grillable Greek cheese)
parmesan cheese (for sprinkling)
feta cheese
4 grape tomatoes (halved)
4 fresh basil leaves (slivered)
star-shaped cookie cutter, smaller in size (1 ½” to 2″)

Preheat your oven to 375° F. Cut out the puff pastry into star shapes (or circles) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. While the puff pastry is cooking, cut the Halloumi cheese into ¼” thick slices, and sear in a pan with grill grooves for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until there are grill marks. Cut into bite size pieces and set aside. Cut the very crumbly blue cheese and feta into 1″ cubes as best you can.

Then the puff pastry is ready, pull from the oven and while still hot, poke a knife into the top to make a slit. Make three different varieties: For blue cheese pastry, push a piece of blue cheese into the slit and drizzle honey over the top; for Halloumi pastry, push a piece of Halloumi cheese into the slit and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top; for the feta pastry, push in a bit of feta cheese and a tomato half and sprinkle with the fresh basil.

Recipe By:

Chef Michi Holland

Prep + Cook Time:

40 mins

Serving Size:

4 Servings

As featured in…

Nov. 25, 2010 Coupon Book