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Pistachio and Chive Goat Cheese on Puff Pastry Wafers
Difficulty Level Easy
We get invited to an annual Christmas party which always falls on the first Saturday of December. Somehow that flicks a little switch in my brain which makes me admit to myself that Christmas really is coming and I'd better get on the case. Luckily, I'm not having a party myself this year, but I'm going to have to get the Christmas baking started soon, and I'm responsible for the potato latkes for two parties for Hanukkah.
I tried this recipe out a few weeks ago for my husband's birthday party and it was a huge success. Don't let the long looking recipe scare you off, it was really very easy. I didn't go through the whole process of the two pans because I rolled my pastry out very thinly and then went back and read that I was only supposed to roll it so that the fold marks were removed. Oops. I figured they wouldn't rise that much because they were so thin and they didn't, but they didn't necessarily have flat tops and some of them fell over comically when I put the topping on them. Our friends didn't care what they looked like, they just popped them in their mouths. If you really wanted to, you could put the topping on crackers, but the puff pastry was delicious.
Get some good quality goat cheese, it will make all the difference. My son chose some fairly sturdy goat cheese for me to use and it was too stiff to try to pipe through a pastry bag, so I just spread them on top of the wafers. Be sure to get unsalted pistachios, otherwise it will be too salty. Also, be sure to get extra pistachios. After all, the cook needs a bit of a treat for shelling all those nuts.
INGREDIENTS
| For the Puff Pastry Wafers | |
| 1 sheet | frozen puff pastry dough, from a 17.3-ounce package (1/2 package) |
| All-purpose flour for dusting | |
| 1 | large egg, beaten |
| For the Pistachio and Chive Goat Cheese Topping | |
| 1 clove | garlic |
| 1/4 teaspoon | kosher or sea salt |
| 5 ounces | fresh goat cheese, at room temperature |
| 3 tablespoons | unsalted butter, at room temperature |
| 1/3 cup | shelled natural pistachio nuts, finely chopped |
| 3 tablespoons | snipped fresh chives |
| Freshly ground pepper | |
| 35 | shelled natural pistachio nuts for garnish |
PREPARATION:
For the Pistachio and Chive Goat Cheese Topping
- Remove 1 pastry sheet from the puff pastry package and thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes. Tightly seal the remaining pastry sheet and return it to the freezer for another use. (Or, double the recipe and make 70 pastry wafers.)
- Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Have ready 2 identically sized rimmed baking sheets. Line 1 pan with parchment paper, and have ready a second sheet of parchment paper the same size. Unfold the pastry sheet and place it on a lightly floured cutting board. Using a rolling pin, roll the pastry just enough to remove the fold marks. Using a 1 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out about 35 rounds. Place the rounds on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the rounds with the beaten egg, being careful the egg doesn't run down the sides. Cover with the second sheet of parchment, and place the second (empty) baking sheet on top, so the baking sheets nest together. (This will keep the pastry even and prevent it from rising too much, creating crisp wafers.) Bake until crisp and light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove the top baking sheet and piece of parchment and let the wafers cool on the pan on a wire rack. (The wafers can be made up to 1 day in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.)
- To make the goat cheese topping, combine the garlic and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until the garlic is finely minced. Add the goat cheese and butter and process until well mixed and smooth. Scatter the nuts and chives over the top, add a few grinds of pepper, and pulse 2 or 3 times until combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning. (The goat cheese spread can be made up to 2 days in advance, covered, and stored in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before piping or spreading on the wafers.)
- To assemble the hors d'oeuvres, spoon the goat cheese topping into a pastry bag fitted with a 5/8-inch open star tip and pipe a rosette onto the center of each wafer. Alternatively, use a butter knife to apply a delicate dab of the goat cheese topping to the top of each wafer. Top each rosette or dab with a pistachio. Arrange on a platter and serve at room temperature.
From The Kitchn.
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