Ultimate Savory Pastry Bites
Baking, Culinary and Pastry Arts, garde manger, pastry
Ultimate Savory Pastry Bites
Somewhere between the sweet pastry world and the savory culinary realm lies the intersection of savory pastry appetizers. These delectable one to two-bite specialties are used for passed appetizers, buffets, amuse-bouche or starter courses.
Made with a variety of common doughs such as puff pastry, choux pastry, pate brisee, phyllo and crepes these types of savory pastries are best prepared with tasty fillings and luxurious ingredients. Served warm or cold they are always very well received and when produced with care can be both aesthetically appealing and delicious.
Accompanied in this tray with canapes the savory pastries included are curry chicken salad cream puffs, smoked salmon crepe roulades, and goat cheese sundried tomato tarts topped with a mock chaud froid sauce.
Savory Pastries made with Puff Pastry
Buttery light and flaky puff pastry or Pâte feuilletée as it is known in French is the dough I used for these smoked salmon croissants and savory Palmiers made with spinach, prosciutto, parmesan and mustard.
Puff pastry is used for a variety of savory pastries such as these smoked salmon croissants filled with honey mustard butter.
Bouchées made with puff pastry are delicious, filled with a grilled yellow fin tuna salad nicoise. As always, the highest quality pastry with a tasty filling is of the utmost importance to obtain the best results.
Spinach Feta filled Spanakopita pastries are made with crispy and buttery flaky phyllo pastry dough.
Phyllo Savory Pastries
Phyllo pastry is often used in many savory pastry applications. The classic Greek Spanakopita is filled with a creamy spinach and feta cheese stuffing layered in laminated sheets of dough brushed with clarified butter and breadcrumbs. It is one of the specialties that I teach my students how to make in my World Cuisine class. Here is my recipe:
Spanakopita
Yield 36 appetizer portions
1 pound Fresh spinach julienne
¼ cup Onion minced
1 teaspoon Garlic minced
2 tablespoons Fresh oregano chopped
2 tablespoons Fresh basil chiffonade
1 Tablespoon Fresh mint chopped
4 ounces Cream Cheese
8 ounces Feta Cheese
2 Eggs
1 cup Breadcrumbs
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
18 sheets Phyllo pastry
Clarified butter for brushing pastry about 3 cups)
Breadcrumbs for dusting the phyllo (about 2 cups)
Olive oil for cooking the spinach (About 1/4 cup)
- Sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent,
- Add the spinach and the chopped herbs and sauté until spinach is wilted,
- Cool and squeeze out the excess water and blend with the cream and feta cheese in a mixing machine with the paddle until smooth,
- Season with salt and pepper if needed and add the eggs and breadcrumbs,
- Lay out a sheet of phyllo pastry and brush with butter and dust with breadcrumbs,
- Repeat the process with another sheet to make 2 layers,
- Cut the sheets into 4 long strips about 2 ½” wide and sprinkle a small amount of breadcrumbs at the base of each strip,
- With a pastry bag pipe onto the base about 2 tablespoons of the spinach filling,
- Fold into triangles,
- Brush finished triangles with more butter and bake at 375F until crisp and serve (about 10 minutes in a convection oven).
Blue crab salad on pate brisée tartlets with marinated asparagus
Mastering the techniques of preparing and using classic pastry doughs combined with imaginative fillings made with top quality ingredients will surely please your guests. Until next time my friends, Bon Appetit.
