5 Last Minute Italian Appetizers You Can Make In Under 20 Minutes (VIDEO)
Are you looking for some last minute Italian appetizers that will wow your guests? I’m going to show you how to make 5 easy appetizers under 20 minutes using store-bought puff pastry. They’re so simple and so delicious, they’ll be gone in no time!
Ingredients
Salmon Cannoli
- 1 puff pastry sheet about g 300 (rectangular or round)
- Olive oil
- 1 egg
- 50 g Smoked Salmon
- 250 g Philadelphia cream cheese
- Chives to taste
Pesto and Fresh Tomato Mini Cups
- 1 puff pastry sheet about g 300 (rectangular or round)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 3 –4 tablespoons basil pesto
- 3 –4 tablespoons diced cherry tomatoes
- A pinch of salt
Ham Breadsticks
- 1 puff pastry sheet about g 300 (rectangular or round)
- 100 g Parma ham
- 1 Egg
Ham and Cheese Swivels
- 1 puff pastry sheet about g 300 (rectangular or round)
- 130 g thinly sliced ham
- 100 g cheese Cheddar, Asiago, Fontina, etc…
Puff Pastry Mini Pizzas
- 1 puff pastry sheet about g 300 (rectangular or round)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 3 –4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 50 g mozzarella
- Green olives
- Diced salami
Instructions
Salmon Cannoli
- Preheat your oven to 220 °C (428 °F).
- Roll out the puff pastry on a work surface, flatten it slightly with a rolling pin, and cut it into about ten strips, each around 2 cm (1 inch) wide.
- Grease some cannoli cylinders with olive oil and wrap each one with a strip of puff pastry.
- Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brush them with beaten egg and bake for 15–20 minutes.
- Once the Cannoli are baked, remove them from the oven and let cool.
- Meanwhile, cut the salmon into strips and mix chopped chives with the Philadelphia, working it with a spoon until you obtain a creamy mixture.
- When they are warm, gently remove the cannoli cylinders, being careful not to break the cannons.
- One by one, using a piping bag or a teaspoon, add the Philadelphia cheese into the cannoli without overfilling.
- Very gently, add a few strips of smoked salmon to each cannoli and garnish with fresh chopped chives.
Pesto and Fresh Tomato Mini Cups
- Preheat your oven to 180 °C (356 °F).
- Roll out the puff pastry and divide it into squares of about 10 cm per side using a pizza cutter.
- Place the puff pastry squares inside a muffin tin or simply in paper cupcake liners. Prick the bottom of the puff pastry with the tines of a fork so it does not rise too much during baking. Brush the surface of the puff pastry with egg yolk.
- Bake for approximately 10–15 minutes, or until the puff pastry is well browned.
- Allow the baskets to cool, then gently press down on the bottom with your fingers.
- Fill each basket with a spoonful of pesto and a few cubed pieces of tomato.
Ham Breadsticks
- Preheat your oven to 220 °C (428 °F).
- Unroll the puff pastry and cutting it into thin strips (about 2 cm or 1 inch).
- Cut the ham into strips as well, then proceed to roll it onto the puff pastry strips, creating spirals.
- Arrange the breadsticks well-spaced apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and brush the surface of the breadsticks.
- Bake the ham breadsticks for about 10–15 minutes, until golden brown.
- Once baked, remove the puff pastry breadsticks with ham from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack before serving.
Ham and Cheese Swivels
- Preheat your oven to 200 °C (392 °F).
- Take the puff pastry and unroll it onto a flat surface. Arrange slices of prosciutto over the entire surface of the pastry, covering it completely.
- Next, take grated cheese and sprinkle it generously over the prosciutto slices.
- Once the filling ingredients are distributed, carefully roll up the pastry lengthwise into a tight cylinder, enclosing the prosciutto and cheese inside. As you roll, use your hands to gently press from the inside of the roll outwards. This will help distribute the filling evenly throughout the cylinder.
- After rolling up the pastry, use a sharp knife to cut the cylinder into slices approximately 1.5 cm thick.
- Line up the slices on a baking sheet and bake for around 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Finally, remove the baked pastry rolls from the oven using oven mitts. Transfer them to a wire rack or plate and allow them to cool slightly before serving.
Puff Pastry Mini Pizzas
- Preheat your oven to 200 °C (392 °F).
- Unroll the puff pastry and cut out circles 5-6 cm in diameter using a glass or a cookie cutter.
- Arrange the circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Brush the small pizzas with a drizzle of oil, then add a half teaspoon of tomato paste. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove your soft pizza bites from the oven and top with mozzarella cheese, olives, and/or salami slices. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.