These Prosciutto and Pepper Phyllo Cups are great little appetizer bites with salty prosciutto, toasted pine nuts and roasted red peppers.
I was looking for an Italian inspired appetizer and this fit the bill. I had phyllo and cream cheese left over from the holiday season and I wanted to use them up.
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Reasons to Love This Recipe!
- the recipe makes about 40 pieces so it is great when you want enough for a crowd.
- It is a light bit- low in calories but high in flavour.
Chef's Tips For Working With Phyllo
Working with phyllo is not difficult but it is precise. Here is what to watch for:
- Make sure you defrost it according to package instructions. If it is too cold it will crack into pieces instead of unfolding.
- Traditional instructions are to melt butter and brush each sheet with the melted butter. I prefer to spray each sheet with butter flavoured cooking spray- much lighter in calories and taste and much easier!
- Have your ingredients all ready to go before you unseal the phyllo dough.
- Keep the sheets you are not working with covered with a moist tea towel. The dough dries out very quickly and when it does it starts to break and becomes difficult to work with.
- Use the same moist tea towel to wrap any unused phyllo in your fridge. Use within a day or two.
For this recipe you will need either small muffin tins or 40 small baking cups. You can get the tiny, paper baking cups from Bulk Barn in Canada.
I see recipes now often call for frozen phyllo cups. I have not seen these in Canada but I will be looking for them! They would make nice uniform little cups for all kinds of fillings with no muss or fuss.
These are best served warm. Once they are cool the flavours do not stand out. So if you want to make them ahead be sure to rewarm them before serving.
Wine Pairing
These are delightful with any type of wine but a Chianti, Ripasso or Sangiovese make a nice nod to the Italian theme!
If you are a white fan, consider a Soave or Sauvignon Blanc.
You could use mini tart shells or puff pastry squares and use the filling. Follow the baking instructions on the package. The number of appetizers will change depending on the size of your pastries.
To keep the Italian essence you might use pancetta. Regular bacon will be too greasy and doesn't necessarily work with the peppers and pine nuts.
These are best if baked immediately before serving. The phyllo cups are quite delicate here so freezing is not a good option. If you make earlier in the day then gently rewarm before serving for optimum flavour.
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Prosciutto and Pepper Phyllo Cups
Ingredients
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 4 ½ oz thin slices of prosciutto¼
- ¼ cup roasted red peppers chopped finely
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1 pkg phyllo dough (use 4 sheets and reserve remainder for another use)
- butter flavoured cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Spread prosciutto slices around a sheet pan. Do not crowd.
- Spread pine nuts in a baking pan in one level.
- Roast prosciutto and pine nuts about 15 minutes. Stir nuts half way through. Pine nuts should be golden and toasty when done. Prosciutto should be crisp. Set them aside to cool.
- When cool, crumble the prosciutto slices into small bits. Mix ¾ of the prosciutto bits and ¾ of the pine nuts into the cream cheese. Reserve the remaining ¼ for garnish. Add the roasted peppers and mix until evenly distributed.
- Unfold 4 sheets of phyllo. Spray each layer with butter flavoured cooking spray.
- With scissor or a sharp knife cut the length of the dough into 4 even strips. Work with one strip at a time and keep the remaining strips moist. Cut each strip into 10 even squares.
- Postion a generous teaspoon of filling in the center of the pastry square. Gently bring the 4 corners up to form a pouch. Nestle the pastry in the mini baking cups. Repeat with the remaining strips of dough.
- Garnish the top of each pouch with a bit of prosciutto and a couple of pine nuts.
- Bake 20 minutes until center is heated through and pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool somewhat but serve warm.
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