Quick to prepare and with a surprising taste, savory croissants with pears and cheese are a puff pastry appetizer that is both tasty and eye-catching, perfect even for the Christmas holidays. The pairing of pears and cheese is a timeless classic that always satisfies, thanks to the contrast between the sweetness of the fruit and the bold note of the cheese. If you love this combination of flavors, try also the appetizer with pears and goat cheese or the gnocchi with pears and gorgonzola: these dishes are capable of delivering real explosions of flavor. For this recipe, I chose Taleggio, a strong-flavored cheese that melts perfectly in the oven, giving the croissants an irresistibly stringy heart. If you don’t like it, you can use a mild pecorino or a smoked scamorza, achieving a delicious result nonetheless. Another advantage? Since they are filled raw, savory croissants with pears and cheese are practical and quick to prepare, and you can also use them as appetizers for a last-minute aperitif.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 16 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 121.84 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 8.89 (g) of which sugars 1.16 (g)
- Proteins 2.52 (g)
- Fat 8.51 (g) of which saturated 2.12 (g)of which unsaturated 5.59 (g)
- Fibers 0.67 (g)
- Sodium 118.17 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 17 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 16 Puff Pastry Mini Croissants with Pears and Cheese
If you are celiac, you can make the recipe using ready-made gluten-free puff pastry.
- 1 roll puff pastry (round)
- 2 Coscia pears
- 3.5 oz Taleggio cheese
- 1 egg yolk (for brushing)
- to taste sesame seeds (for garnish)
Tools
- 1 Chopping Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pizza Cutter
- 1 Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 Brush
How to Prepare Mini Savory Croissants with Pears and Taleggio
To prepare the puff pastry croissants with pears and cheese, start by peeling the pears. Cut them in half, then into quarters. Remove the core and cut them into rectangular pieces, not too large (1). You will need 16 pieces, probably enough with one and a half pears. Remove the crust from the Taleggio and cut 16 pieces approximately the same size as the pears (2).
Unroll the round puff pastry and, using a pizza cutter or a knife, make two perpendicular cuts. Divide each obtained quarter in half, and then divide each half again into two (4). In the end, you should have 16 wedges (4).
Place a piece of pear and a piece of cheese at the bottom of each wedge (5). Then roll the pastry onto itself, wrapping both the cheese and the pears (6).
Continue to roll each wedge up to the tip, then slightly fold the two angles to shape it like a crescent and press gently to compact it (7). Arrange the savory croissants on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, not too close to each other to prevent sticking during baking. In a small bowl, briefly beat an egg yolk and with a kitchen brush brush the surface of the savory croissants (8).
Then garnish with some sesame seeds (9). Bake the savory croissants with pears and cheese in a preheated oven at 390°F for 15-20 minutes. When they are puffed and golden, remove them from the oven (10) and let them rest for just a few minutes before detaching them from the tray.
The puff pastry croissants with pears and cheese are excellent served either warm, to fully enjoy the stringy filling, or at room temperature, when the sweet-savory contrast becomes more pronounced.
Storage
If there are leftovers, you can keep the savory croissants at room temperature for one day.
Tips and Variations
For this recipe, I used Coscia pears which are small and have firm, sweet flesh. You can use other pear varieties, but avoid those with too soft and watery flesh, which would make the puff pastry soggy.
