Talk-A-Vino

This simple appetizer became one of our favorites as of late – it is simple, easy to make – and it is very versatile. I’m not sure how this should be called in the cooking terms – let’s call it a pastry appetizer for the lack of the better word.

The simplicity of this recipe starts from the fact that you don’t need to make the dough – you can use the dough which is ready to go. So far our favorite was Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits, but I’m sure you can use the other brands.

We don’t need to worry about the dough, so the next step is the filling. What I really like about these pastries is that you are only limited by your imagination when it comes to what you want to put inside. Of course your filling shouldn’t be anything raw – the cooking time for the pastries is under 20 minutes. But other than that, everything goes – vegetables, chicken, salmon, pork, anything you can think of. The best is to make your filling into the salad-like consistency, fill the pastries, sprinkle some cheese on top, put in the oven and … voila!

For the pastries we made last week, we used roasted chicken breast, mixed with sauteed mushrooms and onions, a little bit of mayo, fresh dill and shredded cheese. Here is the recipe:

Baked Pastry Appetizer

Prep Time: 20 minutes (depending on what you are using, can be much faster), Cooking time: about 18 minutes.

5 tubes of small Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits, to make 48 pastries.

2 medium size roasted chicken breasts (can be replaced with any other meat), cut up in the small cubes

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

3 medium onions

1 tbsp mayo

1 cup shredded cheese

1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

oil spray

Preheat oven to 450F, or 425F if using the non-stick pan (follow instructions on your pastry can). Saute mushrooms and onions with olive oil over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until soft (onion should be translucent). Once ready, mix mushrooms and onions with chicken, mayo, dill and half a cup of cheese.

Take the muffin pan (we use the non-stick pan with 24 holes). Grease all the holes with oil spray. Open the package of dough. Place the dough pieces in the holes, slightly covering the edges. Put in the mixed filling. Finish filling of all the pastries, then use the remaining half a cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of the pastries (adjust the amount of cheese on top to your liking).

Put in the oven for 18 minutes. Of course your cooking time might vary, so you really need to watch for the pastries to reach right color.

Get the pan out of the oven, let the pastries cool off and … enjoy! Have fun and get creative with your filling! Cheers!