The savory cheese and almond pinecones are a tasty and fun appetizer perfect for the holiday table. Creating Christmas appetizers, showy and innovative, is not easy but, with a bit of imagination, you can create delicious and quick recipes that please the whole family. After creating the chocolate sweet pinecones 5 years ago (one of the most imitated recipes on my blog), today I propose the savory version.
They are very simple to prepare, you need three types of cheese, chopped walnuts, and almond flakes; since they are easy to make, you can have your children help you.
As a base, I used ricotta; buy it in the refrigerated section so it’s firm and compact; I do not recommend the tub ricotta as it is too soft and your pinecones would not stand up. I added robiola and parmesan, seasoned everything with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and chopped walnuts, then finished with almond flakes. As you can see from the photo, they are really beautiful to bring to the table and have a rich and tasty flavor, perfect to start the Christmas lunch and impress your guests.
Here are other appetizers to try during the Christmas holidays:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8/10 pinecones
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
- Energy 201.91 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 2.40 (g) of which sugars 1.56 (g)
- Proteins 8.59 (g)
- Fat 17.32 (g) of which saturated 2.36 (g)of which unsaturated 1.02 (g)
- Fibers 1.56 (g)
- Sodium 82.48 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 2 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
- 5.3 oz cow's milk ricotta (firm and compact)
- 3.5 oz robiola (or Philadelphia)
- 1.76 oz grated parmesan
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 7 walnuts (finely chopped)
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- 5.6 oz almond flakes (toasted or plain according to your taste)
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Plate
Procedure
Grate the parmesan and set aside.
Remove the shells from 7 walnuts and chop them finely.
If you couldn’t find toasted almonds, you can toast them yourself, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and toast them in a preheated oven at 266°F for 5/7 minutes or until they are golden. Be careful not to burn them, check them very often.
Pour the ricotta, robiola, and grated parmesan into the bowl and mix.
Add the extra virgin olive oil, plenty of pepper, and finely chopped walnuts, incorporate everything and taste the mixture, adjust the salt if needed.
The mixture is ready, if you want to make it even tastier, you can add chopped olives or sun-dried tomatoes. I like it this way, it’s delicate and perfect as an appetizer but you can customize it as you like.
If it’s too soft to work with, make a quick pass in the freezer, it certainly depends on the consistency of the ricotta.
Divide the mixture into 8/10 parts of about 1.76 oz each and form cones, insert the almond flakes, one at a time, starting from the bottom and going towards the tip. When inserting them, try to stagger them so they resemble real pinecones.
When the pinecones are ready, put them in the fridge to firm up until the moment of service.
N.B. the mixture can also be prepared the night before and stored in the fridge, it will be even more aromatic and easier to work with.
Ten minutes before serving, take them out of the fridge and place them on serving plates accompanied by a green salad and some Parmesan puff pastry stars.
Your savory cheese and almond pinecones are ready to serve.
Tips
Storage
the mixture keeps in the fridge for 3 days, I recommend assembling the pinecones just before serving otherwise the almond flakes will absorb moisture and become soft.
******************
For tips on making the recipes contact me on FACEBOOK and if you like, follow me on INSTAGRAM.
Send me your photos, I will be happy to share them on my social media
