Quick and easy appetizers are a must for the holiday season. You don’t need to spend a lot of time preparing appetizers for your guests in order to get some great tasting snacks to serve at a holiday get-together. Keep simple ingredients on hand that you can quickly pull together for an appetizer. Below you will find some suggestions for quick but delicious appetizers.

Tomato Pesto Flatbread

8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh pizza dough
• 1/3 cup tomato pasta sauce or pizza sauce
• 1/3 cup sliced pitted Kalamata olives
• 1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons basil pesto
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

On a floured surface, roll out pizza dough to a large square about 12 inches long and 12 inches wide; place on a cookie sheet. Spread pizza sauce evenly over the dough; top with olives and cheese. Use a teaspoon to drop dots of basil pesto over the pizza. Sprinkle with pepper flakes.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Cut into 3 inch squares and serve immediately.

Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms

8 servings

Ingredients

• 16 large button or cremini mushrooms, each about 2-inches in diameter
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs or gluten free panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove mushroom stems from the caps and finely chop the stems. Melt butter in a medium skillet. Brush some of the butter over the mushroom caps; place cap side down on a rimmed baking sheet.

Add chopped stems, onion and garlic to the remaining butter in the skillet; sauté until golden brown and tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in salt and pepper

Mix the cheese with bread crumbs and parsley in a medium bowl. Add stem mixture; mix well. Mound into mushroom caps, pressing down to use all the crumb mixture.

Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until heated through. Serve warm.

Saucy Cream Cheese Appetizer

6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese
• 3 tablespoons mango chutney
• 1 tablespoon sliced almonds, toasted
• 3 tablespoons hot or medium salsa
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• Whole grain or multi-grain crackers

Directions

Cut the block of cream cheese in half crosswise. Place on two small glass or microwave safe serving plates. Place plates in a microwave oven and cook at high power 15 seconds (or let stand at room temperature until slightly softened).

Spoon chutney over one brick; top with almonds.

Spoon salsa over the other brick; top with cilantro.

Serve as a spread with the crackers on an attractive cheese board.

Blue Cheese Puffs

2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1⁄4 cup butter
• 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1-1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 5 large eggs
• 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (1 cup)
• 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh chives or 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Combine milk, water, butter and salt in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until the butter has melted. Add flour all at once; reduce heat to medium and stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon until it pulls away from the sides of the pan. Continue stirring for several minutes over low heat, and then remove the pan from heat.

The dough will be thick, smooth and shiny and should not be brown. Beat in 1 egg at a time, beating very well after each addition. Fold in the blue cheese and black pepper with a spatula.

Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip (or use a heavy plastic bag with a 1/2 –inch cut from one corner.) Pipe dough into 1-1/2-inch mounds, approximately the volume of a heaping tablespoon, onto parchment-lined baking sheets or cookie sheets 1 inch apart.

Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees F. Rotate the pans on the oven racks; reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Continue baking until deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature on the same day they are made.

Turkey Meatballs with Mustard Dip

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 slice bread, torn into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup low-fat milk
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and quartered
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Cooking spray

Dip

• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons grainy Dijon mustard

Directions

Place torn bread in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer bread crumbs to a large bowl and add milk; set aside until bread is completely soaked.

Place onion, red bell pepper and garlic in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped; stir into bread mixture.

Add turkey, egg, parsley, 1 tablespoon mustard, salt and pepper to the bread crumb mixture and mix well.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Shape turkey mixture into 1-inch balls; arrange on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven until firm and cooked through, about 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Let meatballs stand for 5 minutes.

Mix yogurt, mayonnaise and the 4 teaspoons mustard together in a bowl; serve alongside meatballs.

Posted by Jovina Coughlin in Appetizer, Basil pesto, Bread, Cheese, flatbread, Herbs, Meatballs, mushrooms, mustard, Sauces, Turkey Tags: holiday appetizers