Tiny Roasted Chestnut, Pancetta and Ricotta Pie Recipe

1. Appetizers

Ingredients

Pastry:
1 1/2cups all purpose flour + more for bench flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
9 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces, placed in freezer for 1 hr
1/3 cup ice water
2 inch round cookie cutter
24 cup mini muffin tin pan

Filling:
1/2 pound pancetta, diced
1/2 cup vacuum packed roasted chestnuts, finely chopped
3/4 cup ricotta cheese, drained
1/2 cup (4 oz) fresh goat cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
3 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Methods/Steps

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Make Pastry: Place the flour, salt and butter into the bowl of a food processor. Run the machine for 30 seconds or until the mix looks like pea size crumbles. Add the water and pulse just until a dough ball starts to form. A tablespoon or so more of ice water may be needed. Do not over work this dough or the crust will be tough. Gather all of the dough and press into a disk. If you are not rolling the dough immediately, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.

Roll And Cut Pastry: Place the disk onto a well floured surface. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough to about a 1/4 inch thick. With a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut 24 rounds from the dough. You cannot re roll this dough so cut the rounds carefully and without wasting space between cuts.  Gently press dough rounds evenly into the cups of a 24 mini muffin tin pan. Place in oven and par bake crust for 10 minutes while preparing filling.

Sauté Pancetta and Chestnuts: Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until almost crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped chestnuts and sauté just until the pancetta finishes getting crispy, about 2 minutes more. With a slotted spoon transfer the chestnuts and pancetta to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Filling: Place all of the cheese, the sour cream, thyme, salt and pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until well combined. Add the chestnuts and pancetta and pulse just to incorporate. Do not over process at this point, just pulse to combine.  

Assemble Pies: Remove the pie dough from the oven. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling into each cup. Bake pies for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Gently remove pies from the mini muffin tin with an offset spatula and place onto a platter. Garnish platter with fresh thyme sprigs.

Recipe created by Parties That Cook®

Serves/Makes

Makes 24 Tiny Pies