Quick to prepare and with a surprising taste, savory croissants with pears and cheese are an appetizer made with puff pastry, delicious and eye-catching, perfect even for the Christmas holidays. The combination of pears and cheese is a timeless classic that always satisfies, thanks to the contrast between the sweetness of the fruit and the more decisive note of the cheese. If you love this flavor combination, also try the appetizer with pears and goat cheese or the gnocchi with pears and gorgonzola: these are dishes capable of delivering true explosions of taste. For this recipe, I chose Taleggio, a cheese with a decisive character that melts perfectly in the oven, giving the croissants an irresistibly stringy center. If you don’t like it, you can use a mild pecorino or a scamorza, still achieving a delicious result. An additional advantage? Since they are filled raw, savory croissants with pears and cheese are practical and quick to prepare and can also be used as last-minute snacks for an 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 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)
- as needed sesame seeds (for garnish)
Tools
- 1 Chopping board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pizza cutter
- 1 Baking sheet
- 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 cores and cut them into rectangular pieces, not too large (1). You will need 16 pieces, which will probably require one and a half pears. Remove the rind from the Taleggio and cut 16 pieces approximately the same size as the pears (2).
Unroll the round puff pastry and, with a pizza cutter or a knife, make two perpendicular cuts. Cut each quarter into two halves, and then divide them again in half (4). In the end, you should obtain 16 wedges (4).
Place a piece of pear and a piece of cheese at the lower part of each wedge (5). Then roll the puff pastry on itself, wrapping both the cheese and the pears (6).
Continue to roll each wedge up to the tip, then slightly fold the two corners to shape it into a croissant and press gently to compact it (7). Arrange the savory croissants obtained in this way on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, not too close to avoid 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 them with a bit of sesame seeds (9). Bake the savory croissants with pears and cheese in a preheated oven at 392°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes. When they are puffed and golden, take them out of the oven (10) and let them rest just a few minutes before detaching them from the tray.
The puff pastry croissants with pears and cheese are excellent both served hot, to fully appreciate the stringy filling, and at room temperature, when the sweet-salty contrast becomes more pronounced.
Storage
If any are left over, you can store the savory croissants at room temperature for one day.
Tips and Variations
For this recipe, I used Coscia pears which, in addition to being small, have firm and sweet flesh. You can also use other varieties of pears, but avoid those with too soft and watery flesh which would make the puff pastry too moist.
