Giada's easy filo appetizer

17 years ago

I wrote this down from one of her shows and tried it tonight for a dinner party. It was a HUGE hit. You can't get any easier than 3 ingredients, either!

Cheese-tomato filo rolls

by Giarda de Laurentiis

For each roll:

1 sheet of filo, oiled and folded in half lengthwise

one 1/4" slice of smoked mozzarella or smoked fontina

Drained sun-dried tomatoes (sliver if too thick) OR sun-dried tomato pesto

Roll up 1 slice of cheese and tomato in filo. No need to fold in the sides (NOTE: it does make it neater if you do it, though - that way the melted cheese doesn't run out). It will be a narrow, 9-10" long 'wrap'.

Brush with melted butter or spray generously with Pam.

Bake 325 degrees for 25 minutes.

Slice in 1/2. Serve atop salad, or as appetizers

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Comments (10)

lyndaluu2
17 years ago
Sounds great!!
I love her show....she always has great ideas for parties.

Linda
annie1992
17 years ago
Yes, it does sound good, maybe by the time I have ripe tomatoes this summer I'll be willing to try phyllo/filo again.

That apple blackberry strudel I made last week pretty much ruined my attitude about filo dough, it was an impossible mess. I nearly threw it all away I was so frustrated and it turned out ugly, LOL.

Give me a couple of months, maybe I'll be ready to try again. I'll save this recipe for then.

Annie
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rob333 (zone 7b)
17 years ago
Which cheese did you use? It sounds good with either one though. I might try adding a bit of basil to it though. Mmm.

Here is a link that might be useful: Giada's recipe???? sounds similar
dixiedog_2007
17 years ago
It does sound good. Thanks for sharing.:)
foodonastump
17 years ago
I've got leftover prosecco from last night's New Mattress Celebration (yes, I spilled on the new bedding). So this is in tonight's dinner plans, complete with the salad and (obviously) dressing.

Now the question just becomes, what to do with 14 leftover filo sheets? Do they re-freeze? I know they're not too expensive but still.
jakkom
Original Author
17 years ago
foodonastump, they don't refreeze well, but will keep a week in the frig. How about a nice mini-spanokopita, or some tasty filo triangles, for a weekend treat?
kathleen_li
17 years ago
or some apple struedel..:)
User
17 years ago
oh they do look good!

Food... sounds like a fun party ; )

Here is my recipe for Spanikopita. They freeze very well and makes a great "pull out" for unexpected (or expected) company. They are very good if I do say so myself.

Spanikopita

16 Oz Phyllo Dough Thawed in the fridge For 24 Hours
10 Oz Frozen Spinach Thawed and of all liquid Drained
3/4 Lb Feta Cheese
1/2 Lb Cottage Cheese - About 1 Cup Pressed And Drained
1/4 lb Cream Cheese Softened
3 Eggs
1/4 Cup fresh Dill Chopped Fine
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
3/4 Cup Butter Melted

In large bowl combine all ingredients except phylo and butter.

Working with one sheet of phylo at a time, brush with melted
butter and cut in 5 strips lengthwise. Place 1 spoonful of~
mixture at the bottom of each strip about 1 inch from the bottom, fold the bottom piece up over the filling and then fold up into triangles. Fold like you fold a flag, to the left, up , to the right ,up etc.

These can be made ahead and frozen for up to three months.

When ready to cook:
Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden.Serve warm
jakkom
Original Author
17 years ago
Quite a few family/friends are on a low salt diet, but we're getting together tonight and I promised to make these. I have been using the Bella Sun Luci brand of sun-dried tomato pesto sauce, which comes in a long narrow 8.5oz glass jar. It's easily available in the produce section of my local Safeway.

I hadn't checked the sodium level of this brand before. To my surprise, a 1/4 cup serving has only 70mg of sodium! Since you only use a bare 1 Tblsp for each roll, this (outside of the cheese or filo) is adding only 17.5 mg of sodium.

I haven't checked other brands of sun-dried tomato, but if they are equally as low, that's a very nice flavor bonus for something that's good for you (tomatoes are high in lycopene, among other things).

As tomatoes are high in natural sodium, it's one of the first things most folks miss having when on a low-sodium diet. No-salt canned tomatoes are something of a shock when you first try them! Using this pesto is a nice way to add a tomato flavor without adding too much sodium, to all kinds of things - cream sauces, etc.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention it. I also found whole-wheat filo pastry in our local organics grocery, which is an added healthy bonus. They don't seem to brown quite as well as regular filo, but they taste fine.
kathleenca
17 years ago
annie, I'm with you on filo/phyllo. I can only tackle it about every few years. The Cheese-Tomato Filo Rolls sound really good, but I'm not sure I have gathered enough fortitude yet.

Kathleen

Giada's easy filo appetizer

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