Sometime in the near future, you may have unexpected guests drop by, but you don’t have anything to serve. If you plan ahead and get some phyllo pastry dough and keep it in the freezer and a wheel of Laughing Cow cheese wedges and keep it in the fridge, you’ve got yourself an easy cheesy breezy appetizer that comes together in minutes.
The nice thing about this recipe is that the result looks fancy, like something you’d see served at a cocktail party. You can, of course, expand the visit of your expected guest to include cocktails or double the recipe and serve alongside a green salad for a light meal, especially if the guest brings guests (the below recipe makes eight triangles.)
Laughing Cow cheese wedges are available in almost every supermarket across the country. The number “eight” is essential here as each wheel of Laughing Cow comes with eight aluminum foil-wrapped wedges that get folded inside eight cut pieces of phyllo pastry dough. There are at least seven flavors of Laughing Cow (Creamy Original; Creamy Light; Creamy Garlic and Herb; Creamy Aged White Cheddar; Creamy Spicy Pepper Jack; Creamy Asiago; Creamy Aged Cheddar Bacon), but the one you are most likely to see in stores is the Creamy Swiss Original. Once you’ve folded the little wedges inside the dough, you bake them in the pastry for about 15 to 20 minutes until they are a lovely golden brown and puff up crisp.
Phyllo, or filo, is a great pastry to have on hand as it keeps in the freezer for a while. It is very thin, has no yeast, and is used for sweet and savory dishes. Its most famous uses are in baklava, the phyllo layered dessert with chopped nuts in between, all held together by honey or syrup, and spanikopita, the Greek spinach pie.
If you’d like, you can top the baked triangles with chopped parsley to give them a little color brightness or serve them alongside a dipping sauce, such as honey-mustard, hoisin, or even a flavored vinegar.
Then watch as your guests ooh and ahh as they sing your culinary praises.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 thawed phyllo pastry sheets
- 8 Laughing Cow cheese wedges
INSTRUCTIONS
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Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 375ºF.
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Unroll a phyllo pastry street and cut lengthwise into four strips, each about 3 1/2 inches wide.
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For each phyllo triangle, unwrap and place a Laughing Cow cheese wedge on the bottom left corner of one phyllo strip. Bring the lower left-hand corner of the strip up and to the right diagonally so the bottom edge of the strip lines up with the right side of the strip, creating a triangle. Fold the pocket upwards and then to the left, as you would fold a flag. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining phyllo pastry sheets and cheese wedges.
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Bake until golden-brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
NOTES
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Then, reheat in a low oven until warmed through.
Link to video on to prepare phyllo pastry here.
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