SAVORY CREAM PUFFS with MORTADELLA
Savory cream puffs are a delicious finger food made with choux pastry, the same neutral-flavored dough used for sweet cream puffs, filled with delightful fillings and perfect to serve as an appetizer or for an aperitif during a standing dinner.
The great thing about this preparation is that it pairs perfectly with every kind of filling: from cold cuts mousses to ricotta enriched with cherry tomatoes; from the classic tuna sauce to simple smoked salmon to create many delicious variations.
The savory cream puff recipe is easy and quick, especially if you decide to buy ready-made shells, but it’s also perfectly doable at home: you’ll need just 15 minutes to make the dough and while they bake you can prepare the fillings.
In today’s recipe I chose a mortadella mousse enriched with chopped pistachios, a no-cook filling that takes just 5 minutes to prepare, but you can easily replace it with ham pâté or simply a ricotta mousse mixed with grated Parmesan, salt, pepper and toasted almond crumbs ready in less than a minute.
Savory cream puffs are perfect served warm or cold for a festive lunch or to bring to the table for a buffet dinner or an aperitif.
For a more spectacular presentation you can also stack the puffs and cover them with a cheese fondue to simulate a sort of savory profiterole cake.
At the bottom of the recipe you’ll also find four more fillings to stuff your savory cream puffs, each more indulgent than the last: one with smoked salmon, one with tuna in oil, a vegetarian one with ricotta and grilled vegetables and finally one with salami and cooked ham.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 40 CREAM PUFFS
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Energy 171.70 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 5.32 (g) of which sugars 0.80 (g)
- Proteins 8.65 (g)
- Fat 12.97 (g) of which saturated 6.09 (g)of which unsaturated 5.69 (g)
- Fibers 0.15 (g)
- Sodium 426.33 (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
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 5/8 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 10.6 oz Mortadella (Bologna)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- squares salt
- 1 pinch pepper
Tools
- Bowl
- Baking sheet
- Food processor
Steps
First, prepare the savory cream puffs, then while they bake you can take care of the fillings. To make the savory cream puffs start with choux pastry; you can find all the tricks for perfect choux pastry HERE. Alternatively, if you want to save time you can buy ready-made puffs available in most supermarkets. While the savory puffs are baking you can prepare the mortadella mousse.
Cut the mortadella slice into small cubes, then put them in the food processor and pulse for 30 seconds; then add ricotta, Parmesan, heavy cream and a pinch of pepper. Blend all the ingredients for a couple of minutes until you obtain a creamy, homogeneous mousse. Since all ingredients are already quite seasoned, it is not always necessary to add salt — personally I never add it. The mortadella mousse is ready; store it in the refrigerator if you don’t use it immediately.
After the puffs are baked let them cool completely. Then cut the top off with a knife and set it aside. Fill the puffs with the mortadella mousse using a teaspoon or, alternatively, a piping bag. Replace the top and decorate with chopped pistachios. Your SAVORY CREAM PUFFS are ready to serve to your guests.
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VARIATIONS
COOKED HAM filling. You will need: 150 g cooked ham, 100 g spreadable cheese, 3 slices salami, salt, pepper. Put the spreadable cheese together with the slices of cooked ham and salami in the food processor and blend until you obtain a soft and creamy mousse. Adjust with salt and pepper.
TUNA in oil filling. You will need: 150 g tuna in oil, 50 g spreadable cheese, 10 pickled capers, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise. Put the drained tuna, the creamy cheese, the mayonnaise and the chopped capers in the blender and pulse until you obtain a homogeneous sauce.
Vegetarian filling. You will need: 100 g ricotta, 1 grilled yellow bell pepper, 1 zucchini, sliced almonds, 2 basil leaves, salt, pepper. Put the ricotta, previously drained of whey, together with fresh basil in a bowl; season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place the filling into the cream puff and then garnish with strips of grilled pepper and zucchini.
SMOKED SALMON filling. You will need: 100 g smoked salmon, 100 g spreadable cheese, salt, pepper. Work the spreadable cheese with a fork together with a pinch of salt and pepper until creamy. Fill the puff and top with small pieces of smoked salmon.
STORAGE
Once ready, savory cream puffs are stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 day. However, you can prepare the baked (empty) puffs in advance and keep them in a cool, dry place sealed in a freezer bag for up to one week.
FAQ (Questions & Answers)
Why don’t my cream puffs rise?
The cause is either too short a baking time or baking at too high an oven temperature, which doesn’t allow the interior to cook properly. Another factor that can cause cream puffs to collapse is opening the oven too early, which causes a drop in the internal temperature.
Where should cream puffs be stored?
How to store empty cream puffs? Empty puffs keep better in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
