Parmesan Gougeres and a Virtual Dinner Party
December 6, 2010
This month, a group of food bloggers will be participating in Share Our Holiday Table, a virtual, progressive holiday dinner organized by Share Our Strength, designed to raise awareness of child hunger in the U.S. You can follow along, gathering up some great recipes for your own holiday entertaining. This progressive dinner party will include everything from appetizers to desserts - even drinks. Each category will include four options: gourmet, family friendly, vegetarian and gluten-free.
I'm making an appetizer for this dinner - gougeres. They are delicious little cheese puffs that are traditionally made with shredded Gruyere cheese but I've changed them a little - I made them with grated Parmigiano Reggiano instead. If you've never made gougeres, don't fret. They are so simple to make. You mix up the batter in a saucepan on the stove, dump it into a food processor and add eggs. Then you pipe it or spoon it onto baking sheets. Now that doesn't sound hard, does it. And the best part? You can actually make these ahead and freeze them in ziplocks. When you need them, just take them out and pop them on baking sheets and reheat. An appetizer at a moments notice! With a little glass of wine and some olives, they're hard to beat.
Check out the other bloggers who are posting appetizers today for the dinner:
Lori at Recipe Girl
Cat at Neo-Homesteading
Marla at Family Fresh Cooking
Mary at Giving Up on Perfect
Maria at Two Peas and Their Pod
Debra at Smith Bites
Rachael at La Fuji Mama
Wenderly
To make a donation to Share Our Strength, click here.
Parmesan Gougeres
for a printable recipe, click here
makes about 35 small puffs
Some recipes for gougeres call for water and some for milk. I've made them both ways and I do prefer milk in the recipe - I think it's a little richer. You can also swap out the Parmesan for any cheese you like - Gruyere is the traditional cheese used, but you can try cheddar also, or a combination.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (or any other cheese you like) plus about 2 tablespoons more for sprinkling on the tops
Instructions:
In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt the milk and butter together. Add the salt and cayenne pepper. Add the flour all at once and stir, cooking over medium heat, until the dough comes together in a ball. Cook for about a minute more, until the dough is dry. Remove from heat and transfer to a food processor. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
Cook dough until it forms a dry ball. Transfer to food processor and allow to cool. Add eggs, one at a time and process until you have a loose dough.
With the food processor running, add the eggs, one at a time, allowing the dough to absorb each egg totally before adding the next. Add the 1 cup of cheese and process. Your dough will now be very loose. Transfer this to either a pastry bag fitted with a large circular tip or, if you don't have a pastry bag, you can transfer to a large ziplock bag with a corner cut off. Alternatively, you can just transfer to a bowl if you don't want to pipe the mixture.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking pans with parchment paper or Silpats. Either pipe the dough onto the sheets or, using two spoons, spoon the dough onto the sheets in small mounds. Sprinkle cheese on top of each mound.
Bake the puffs for about 20 - 25 minutes, until golden. ( If you are baking both sheets at once, rotate the pans about 10 minutes into the cooking time. Bake 10 minutes more and then switch pans again and bake 5 minutes more.)
The puffs will keep for a couple of days at room temperature, stored in a plastic container.
If you want to make these ahead, you can let the puffs cool and then store in ziplock bags until ready to use. No need to defrost when you want them - just pop onto a baking sheet and reheat for about 5 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Reader Comments (35)
I'm following your blog, is very great!
This recipe is exquisite! I love gougeres, and with parmesan...mmmm!! Very great!!! I take the recipe to do it!
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These look great, I've been wanting to try choux pastry but have always associated it with sweets this is a good savory substitute! yum.
These sound delicious. I have a question about the Parmesan cheese though. Should some of the cheese be in the dough? The recipe only says 2 tablespoons for sprinkling, but there is another cup of Parmesan in the recipe?
These look like a must try! Yumm!
I will make these for my Christmas party but also would like to know if the cup of cheese goes in the dough during the food processing step or on the stove?
From The Italian Dish:
Dena: Thank for noticing that! As much as I proofread recipes when I type them up, sometimes I make a mistake, like here. I've fixed it!
I would gobble these up. I could make a meal out of all these appetizers! Beautiful photography!
Oh my! Do those ever look delicious...and *dangerous*... as in I would most certainly end up eating an obscene amount of them. But it would be totally worth it!
Oh, how lovely and delicious! These remind me of gluten-free tapioca flour cheese rolls that I make. :-)
I'm so happy to be part of this much needed event! I can't wait to see all the recipes that we are sharing while raising awareness and hopefully lots of funds to solve the problem of child hunger.
Shirley
One of my favorite appetizers. Great recipe for a great cause!
These gougeres do look wonderful & the perfect holiday appetizer. So glad to be a part of this important event with you :)
I've always wanted to make these... elegant indeed!
Ooooh, yum! These look so good - and you made them look easy, too! Also, your photos are gorgeous!!
Thanks for sharing your recipe. It's great to work with you for Share Our Strength!
i'm so glad i participated in this project because before today, i had no idea you were here - and this is a beautiful blog! gougeres - have seen them all over the place but have never, ever made them; but gotta say that you really grabbed my attention when you said they could be frozen - i am all about getting ahead of the game!!
I still have never made gougeres but I would love to - they look beautiful!
These look beautiful! I wish I could have a nibble. What a great event. I'm excited to be participating in it with you.
What a beautiful start to the Share Our Holiday Table progressive dinner party! I'm preparing dessert for the gourmet menu. Can't wait to see what everyone else will be serving up over the next week.
Hmmm, I wonder if I could make these gluten free and dairy free? I bet it would work. I could use GF flour, almond or soy milk, and Daiya cheese. What a beautiful and tasty looking recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Mmm savoury choux pastry... This looks golden and delicious!
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Perfect little nibbles! (Woman cannot live on cookies alone!!!)
Just had to try this recipe. I made 1 1/2 batch using Grana Padano. They were very easy and the directions were perfect. They taste just as good as they look. I used my smallest cookie scoop and they turned out beautiful. Best of all, they can be made ahead of time. Thank you so very much for your inspiration and for sharing your talents with all of us! It is sincerely appreciated!
I just LOVE your blog and can't wait to see what the others will be preparing! What a Great Idea and for a good cause. I love to bake sweets and make candy ( I found your blog searching on how to make vanilla extract) but, it's time to learn to cook the right way (we eat out way too much)! And your blog is just what I need! Thanks for sharing!
Ah les fameuses gougeres! I never made them but totally love them!
Ack - I have to be sure my daughter doesn't see the screen right now, or I"ll be sent to the kitchen stat! These look amazing. I love your photos too! I am happy to have you as part of our SOS efforts to feed hungry kids - thanks for participating! xoxo
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Love these... they look like pure carb delight!!! I LOVE everything you do with bread girl!
Blessings-
Amanda
Oh, so lovely. Idea, thought, everything! :)
hi! i'm a new follower! these look so yummy!
Wonderful and very inspiring blog! From an Italian who lives in Canada, thanks for carrying such authenticity in your original recipes and for showing that cooking from scratch is not that hard and it pays off immensely... in so many ways.
My wife made these for our Amuse Bouche course for our Christmas dinner for our friends. Since 2005 we've made and 8 course dinner for eight core friends plus any strays. These were a big hit and especially appreciated by our Italian friend. Not to say that I didn't benefit from the extras that she made the night before. No problem making these on Christmas Eve and reheating on Christmas Day: they were equally delicious. Thanks for a great recipe- my wife is the dough person but she'd never made choux before and wanted to try. Try= success.
From The Italian Dish:
Bob: Thanks! That makes my day. Your dinner sounds like a wonderful tradition! Happy New Year.
Nice recipe, these gougeres look very tasty.
In Italy with the Parmigiano cheese, we also make cheesy croutons breaded: the filling is made with grated parmesan and béchamel.
The complete recipe, if you are intereted, is here:
http://www.academiabarilla.com/italian-recipes/search-recipes/croutons-with-parmesan-cheese.aspx
I am having friends over on Friday and am doing Italian. I would love to have these as an appetizer, can I use something other than a food processor? I am also going to try your artesian bread. I can"t wait to do everything for a special meal! Is there any special dessert you could suggest? Thank you and I love your sight!
From The Italian Dish:
Joanne: You can just mix them up in a bowl and use a spoon - it will take a little bit of arm power, but you can do it without a food processor.
As for the desserts, feel free to look through my recipe index under "desserts".