I love easy appetizers that look like I spent a lot of time and effort… but are a snap to make. This pesto tartlet is just that recipe. You mix together ingredients that you buy at the grocery store, and once they are together, magic happens.
The base of this is cream cheese, pesto and Parmesan cheese. You can make the pesto from scratch or use a store brand. I really like the Kirkland brand that is available at Costco. When it comes to the Parmesan cheese, you cannot scrimp! This is the ingredient that turns an ordinary pesto dip into something spectacular. Use an aged Parmesan from Italy if you have access to it. I buy it in large chunks and then pulverize it in the food processor. The pre-grated type does not have as much flavor. If you’re even thinking about using the green Kraft bottle of Parmesan cheese… stop reading this recipe and go buy an appetizer. You will ruin it, I promise, so you might as well save yourself some time and effort.
If you’re still reading that means you have agreed to use only real Parmesan cheese, preferably an aged Reggiano-Parmesano from Italy. (Please taste this before you add the cheese and then afterwards and put your comments below.) Once you make the cream cheese mixture, put it in the refrigerator for an hour so the flavors can meld. If you’re in a hurry you can skip this step, but it will taste that much better if you give it a little time.
You will put the filling into mini phyllo shells. You can make them from scratch or buy them from your favorite grocer. (Note: These are typically spelled the Greek way–Mini Fillo Shells–and are available in the freezer section of most grocery stores.) They come pre-baked but you will need to bake them for a few more minutes to get them nice and crisp, as the cream cheese mixture will soften them. Bake according to package instructions and let cool.
If you’re using your main oven, you can toast your pine nuts at the same time. I typically use my toaster oven for both tasks, putting the pine nuts in as soon as the Fillo Shells are crisped. When you toast your pine nuts, they can go from perfectly brown to black and bitter in the blink of an eye. Start with a sheet of aluminum foil coated with cooking spray. Then arrange the pine nuts in a thin layer and toast at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5 minutes. I take them out of the oven and stir them every 1-2 minutes so they brown uniformly. After the second stir, I stand in front of the oven and don’t move. It’s too easy to get distracted, and pine nuts are too expensive to throw a burned batch in the trash. In about 5 minutes, pull them from the oven and let cool. You don’t want to put hot nuts on the cream cheese mixture.
When you are filling the Fillo Shells, you have a few options: you can spoon it in, pipe it in, or use a plastic baggie with one end cut for an ice-cream like piped look. You’re going to add a few things on top so the fill doesn’t need to look perfect. I normally take the time to pipe in fillings, but I couldn’t find one piece of my piping set when I was making these. The great news about living in Panama and having a full-time maid is—well, I have a full-time maid. The bad news is that sometimes things get thrown away that shouldn’t. Life’s a trade-off, and I know no one feels sorry for me. So, in the photo above, I used the plastic-baggie hack. It works just fine.
Sprinkle the cooled pine nuts over the pesto cream cheese. You want about 5-7 nuts per tartlet so each bite has a lot of nutty flavor. You may need to slightly press the nuts into the mixture to make sure they don’t fall out. Then push one-quarter of a salami piece in the top. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes to set.
Be sure to make double the amount that you need because your guests will gobble these and ask for more!
WINE PAIRING: A white wine pairs better with this than a red wine, and a buttery chardonnay is the very best. It can stand up to the salami and will make the tartlet taste even more buttery.
Pesto Tartlets Recipe
Oaky buttery chardonnay, such as 19 Crimes Hard Chard1 cup cream cheese (light is ok)
1/2 cup pesto
1/4 cup Aged Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 package Mini Fillo Cups
4 thick slices of salami, quartered
Mix cream cheese pesto, and Parmesan. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Toast pine nuts and let cool. Remove cream cheese mixture from fridge for 10 minutes and allow to soften. Pipe or spoon pesto filling into the Mini Fillo Cups. Sprinkle with pine nuts and garnish with salami wedge. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to harden.
WINE PAIRING: Oaky buttery chardonnay, such as 19 Crimes Hard Chard
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