The puff pastry croissants are small savory croissants perfect to offer at cocktail hour, for a standing dinner, or to enrich a buffet.
They can be prepared in a few minutes, even in advance and baked at the last minute, and they are extremely versatile. In fact, within the crispy puff pastry shell, you can enclose a thousand or more ingredients, even those you already have on hand, to create many inviting different bites.
Just have a roll of ready-made puff pastry, fill it as you please, and with just a few easy steps, you’ll bake in less than 30 minutes simple yet delicious savory croissants worthy of the best delis.
A recipe so easy that even children can make it, and it could also be a fun and tasty way to keep them busy for a few minutes!
Alternatively, you can also choose to bake them empty and then once baked and slightly cooled, cut them in half and fill them at the last minute with ingredients that wouldn’t give their best if cooked. An example? Smoked salmon and cream cheese, basil pesto cherry tomatoes and mozzarella or simply thinly sliced mortadella and buffalo stracciatella… a delight!
Related recipes
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 16
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 241.38 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 10.44 (g) of which sugars 0.34 (g)
- Proteins 12.54 (g)
- Fat 16.54 (g) of which saturated 5.42 (g)of which unsaturated 10.34 (g)
- Fibers 0.59 (g)
- Sodium 663.66 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 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
- 1 roll puff pastry (round)
- 3.5 oz ham (cooked or raw)
- 3.5 oz provola cheese (mild or smoked)
- 1 egg (for brushing)
- as needed sesame seeds (or poppy seeds)
- 1 egg yolk
- milk (1 teaspoon)
Tools
- 1 Baking Pan
Steps
Roll out the puff pastry then cut it into 16 equal wedges (or 8 larger ones). If you have rectangular pastry, cut it in half and create small rectangles.
Chop the ham and cheese into small cubes. Put some filling at the base of the triangles then roll them from the base to the tip. Try to seal them well to prevent the filling from leaking during baking.
Place the savory croissants on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, making sure the tip is underneath so they don’t open during baking. Preheat the oven to 428°F in static mode, meanwhile, leave the tray with the savory croissants in the fridge for a few minutes.
When the oven is ready, brush the croissants with beaten egg yolk mixed with the milk, and if you like, sprinkle them with sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Bake at 428°F for 10 minutes then lower the temperature to 356°F and bake for another 10-15 minutes. They should be slightly golden and nicely puffed up. Take them out and let them cool slightly before serving.
TIPS
To have flaky and well-layered savory croissants, it’s important that the pastry doesn’t experience thermal shock, which is why it’s important to let them rest in the fridge for a few minutes before baking.
If you want to get ahead of your work, you can form the croissants the day before, place them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper, cover them with plastic wrap, and keep them in the fridge until it’s time to bake.
Those in the recipe are filled with cooked ham and scamorza cheese, but follow your tastes and modify the filling, for example: a layer of mustard and sausages or thinly sliced zucchini, lightly grilled, and cheese, or pizza flavor with a layer of tomato sauce and cubed mortadella. Another alternative is to bake them empty and once cooled, cut them in two and insert cream cheese and salmon or various cold cuts, your choice.
STORAGE
Like all puff pastry-based preparations, I recommend consuming the savory croissants as soon as they are ready otherwise they will lose their crunchiness. Alternatively, you can freeze them either raw and bake them as needed or cooked and place them in the oven for a few minutes to make them crispy again.
