Appetizers Part 1: The Fillings

This will be a pretty long post and since I did half of this "project" (I won't call it recipe because technically, there are four different recipes in one here - but don't get scared!) today, and will finish tomorrow, I will post what I did today.

One of my favourite Christmas traditions is to make phyllo pastry appetizers. Finger foods are so popular during the holidays, and it's a lot more fun and cost-effective to make your own. I started doing this a couple of years ago and every year I get a little more creative with it. This year, I also bought some puff pastry so I'll let you know how that turns out.

This post will be dedicated to showing you what I did for my fillings. I stuck to four this year and as much as I'd like to do more, sometimes it just gets to be a little too much, especially when it comes to filling the pastry (which I won't lie, can be kind of tedious and time-consuming, but the end result is worth it, I promise).

So, let's get on with it then.

My first filling I made was my take on the traditional spinach "spanikopita" style.

I used:

1/2 pkg of frozen spinach, microwaved for about 90 sec and then the water squeezed out
3/4 pkg of cream cheese
squeeze of basil paste from Sobey's
about a tbsp chopped fresh basil
couple tbsps of freshly grated parmesan cheese
juice and zest of half a lemon (to brighten the flavours)
S & P

(Not all of the ingredients are shown in the picture because I kind of make these up as I go along!)

And this filling turned out like this:

I used the same mixer for all of these - I just emptied the fillings into containers and then rinsed and wiped out the bowl, spatula and beater. It wasn't that annoying, trust me.

The next filling I made actually turned out to be something I'm going to use as a dessert. I wanted to do sort of a sweet and savoury kind of thing and it just turned out like more of a dessert flavour. It's still very good but I might serve it as a dessert instead of an appetizer.

What I used:
Goat cheese (half the pkg pictured)
1/4 pkg cream cheese
2 heaping tsp blackberry jam
zest and juice of half a lemon
S & P

When I make these, I'm going to put a fresh blackberry in each little pastry.

The next one I made was with crab and I think it turned out really well.

I used:
1/2 pkg cream cheese
1 can of crab meat (PC brand - highly recommend)
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh chives (I just use kitchen scissors and cut these into the bowl - very easy)
juice and zest of half a lemon
1-2 tbsp fresh grated parmesan cheese
S & P

The last one is a favourite of my family's and it's the most time consuming so I left it to last.

What I used:
2-3 cups of chopped mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 finely chopped shallots
tsp dried thyme
S & P
1 tbsp butter

These ingredients I threw in a pan to saute and soften before I combined them with the cream cheese.


3/4 pkg cream cheese
1-2 tbsp parmesan cheese

I'm also going to but a small slice of brie cheese with each of these mushroom ones when I stuff them.

Stay tuned for part 2!