Appetizer Recipes to Win Hearts

I bring you 6 easy starter recipes but with the perfect touch to look fabulous in front of family and friends. This Christmas you'll make the most of them!

Easy yet impressive and varied appetizers — I think with these ideas you can fill many tables and satisfy the whole family, on holidays, celebrations, or casual dinners with friends.

Since Emile Henry launched the new range of bake-and-serve trays, we get messages almost every week telling us how beautiful they are and that you want ideas to get the most out of them. So here you go.

For those who don't know it, Emile Henry's new collection called Bake&Serve consists of trays in different sizes and colors, and about adorable bowls, all with a very elegant design and lovely pastel colors. And they let you make great appetizers without having to move them from place to place and with a perfect finish!

The whole collection is made from Emile Henry ceramic, so the pieces are not designed only for serving cold appetizers, because the fun part is that you can also use them to bake all kinds of recipes, from quesadillas, puff pastry, pizzas, roasted vegetables... and anything your imagination invites, to serve them after baking directly to the table. You can also simply gratin or reheat the recipes before serving, to bring them hot to the table.

You'll use the bowls not only to serve tapas but also as an individual plate. You can already picture them with a portion of lasagna or cannelloni for your guests, right? Or with that cream soup, or a piece of beef in its sauce... You'll get a lot of use out of them!

Having made the introduction, here are a few recipes that will surely leave more than one guest in love and asking you what the secret is to such delicious appetizers. Take note!

Zucchini roses on the grill and Timut cheese cream

Emile Henry ceramic serving tray

Ingredients (12-14 pieces)

• 2 green zucchinis (+ 2 yellow zucchinis for a mix of colors)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt
• 10-12 fresh sage leaves
• 125 g ricotta
• Timut pepper

Preparation

1. Thinly slice one zucchini using a mandoline, then do the same with the other but lengthwise.
2. Lay out the strips, and place the round slices lengthwise, slightly overlapping.
3. Season with freshly ground Timut pepper, sea salt and a few drops of olive oil.
4. Roll the strips/slices to form a rose.
5. Place a toothpick through it to hold it in place. Then cut it in half to obtain 2 pieces.
6. Place them in the serving tray, with the cut side down.
7. Bake at 200°C for 10 minutes in a fan oven (or 220°C in a conventional oven).
8. Meanwhile, finely chop the fresh sage leaves, mix with the ricotta with freshly ground Timut pepper and pour into a container.
9. Remove the tray from the oven, garnish with a fresh sage leaf and serve with the sauce.

Parmesan cookies with hazelnuts

Emile Henry ceramic serving tray

Ingredients (12-14 pieces)

• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 80 g grated Parmesan cheese
• 40 g ground almonds
• 120 g salted butter
• 1 egg
• 120 g hazelnuts

Preparation

1. Mix the flour, Parmesan and almonds.
2. Add the butter cut into cubes and incorporate it into the flour mixture using your fingertips.
3. When the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, make a well in the center and add the egg.
4. Mix to obtain a smooth dough.
5. Shape into a rectangle and let it rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
6. Butter the Émile Henry appetizer dish and dust with flour. Turn it over to remove excess flour.
7. Crush the hazelnuts.
8. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is 7 mm thick.
9. Sprinkle the dough with the crushed hazelnut pieces and use the rolling pin to press them in slightly.
10. Using a cookie cutter, cut 5 cm diameter circles and place them on the serving tray.
11. Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes in a fan oven (or 200°C in a conventional oven).

Mini cherry tomato and yellow pepper pizzas

Emile Henry ceramic serving tray

Ingredients (12-15 pieces)

• 1 sheet of ready-to-use rectangular pizza dough (approximately 390 g)
• 30 g mozzarella
• 3 pitted black olives thinly sliced
• 1/4 yellow pepper thinly sliced
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons tomato coulis
• 3 mushrooms sliced
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil
• Fresh thyme

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Unroll the pizza dough sheet. Cut 12 to 15 small circles of about 8 cm with a cookie cutter or a glass. Prick with a fork and place them on the Emile Henry ceramic tray, leaving a small space between each.
3. Prepare the vegetables: halve the olives. Clean the mushrooms and slice them thinly. Slice the yellow pepper thinly.
4. Cut the mozzarella into small cubes.
5. Top the dough with ingredients in this order: black olives, mushroom slices, yellow pepper slices, mozzarella cubes, olive oil and finish with thyme.
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot directly on the Emile Henry tray.

Puff pastry appetizers with goat cheese and tomato

Emile Henry ceramic serving tray

Ingredients (12 pieces)

• 2 sheets of puff pastry measuring 23 x 26 cm
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 15 g goat cheese
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 55 g melted butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 160 °C
2. Unroll 1 sheet of filo pastry and place it on baking paper. Lightly brush with melted butter. Place another sheet on top.
3. With a sharp knife, cut the filo pastry into 12 equal rectangles. It's easier to cut the long side into 4 parts and the short side into 3 parts.
4. Divide the cheese into 12 and place a piece in the center of each rectangle. Lightly season with salt and pepper and top with a cherry tomato.
5. With your fingers, fold each pastry rectangle around the cheese and tomato to form a small cup, so it takes a shape like the image above. Secure it with a wooden toothpick. Repeat with all rectangles. Place them on the Emile Henry ceramic tray
6. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven when the pastry edges begin to brown.
7. Sprinkle with basil leaves and serve hot directly on the tray.

Puff pastry rolls with cheese and spinach

Emile Henry ceramic serving tray

Ingredients (10-12 pieces)

• 1 sheet of puff pastry (rectangular)
• 80 g Swiss cheese in slices
• 10 slices of Italian cured meat Bresaola*
• 70 g fresh spinach
• 1 egg yolk

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C
2. Unroll the puff pastry sheet. Cut the dough into 10 to 12 strips.
3. Separate the strips and place them horizontally. Lay the bresaola, cheese and spinach along the strip. They should protrude from the top edge, but not from the bottom.
4. Carefully roll each strip from one end, making sure to keep it as tight as possible. Use wooden toothpicks if necessary to ensure the rolls stay closed during baking. Brush the rolls with egg yolk.
5. Place them on the Emile Henry ceramic tray, leaving space between each. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until crisp and golden.
6. Serve hot, directly on the trays.

* Can be replaced by another type of cured meat, such as Parma ham.

Three-flavor puff pastry swirls

Emile Henry ceramic serving tray

Ingredients (12-14 pieces)

• 1 puff pastry sheet in rectangular sheets (250 g)
• Salt and pepper
• Milk for glazing

Flavor 1:

• 20 g ricotta cheese
• 10 g chopped walnuts
• 35 g fresh spinach leaves, chopped into large pieces
• Pinch of nutmeg

Flavor 2:

• 35 g green pesto
• 10 g grated Parmesan cheese
• 10 g pine nuts

Flavor 3:

• 35 g tomato caviar
• 75 g crumbled feta cheese
• 20 g pitted black olives
• 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C
2. Unroll the puff pastry sheet on its baking paper.
3. Divide the dough into three equal strips (parallel to the shorter side) and score lightly without cutting.
4. Spread one filling per strip without overlapping.
1. Flavor 1: Spread the ricotta, sprinkle the walnuts and spinach leaves and add a pinch of nutmeg.
2. Flavor 2: Spread the green pesto, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and pine nuts.
3. Flavor 3: Spread the tomato caviar, sprinkle crumbled feta, chopped black olives and chopped basil.
5. Roll the puff pastry lengthwise; brush the roll with milk to glaze.
6. Cut the roll into individual swirls about 1 cm thick*. You should get around 12.
7. Place them on the Emile Henry ceramic tray lightly greased.
8. Bake the swirls in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and golden.
9. Serve hot directly on the plates

* Tip: Place the dough roll in the freezer for 30 to 60 minutes to make slicing the pieces easier.

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I hope this selection of starter recipes helps you make a great impression this Christmas.

As for the Bake&Serve pieces, both trays and bowls are very efficient for baking, because the ceramic reaches very high temperatures and gives doughs a golden, crispy touch thanks to Emile Henry's innovative ceramic and how it distributes heat evenly across the surface.

If you allow me, let me add what convinces me most: taking them to the table! These pieces don't scratch, you can cut on them without fear. So it's very convenient to present them at the table directly from the oven, everything stays hot longer (the ceramic retains heat very well for a long time) and if you need to cut you can do so without worrying that the glaze will be damaged. And I think you'll agree with me when I say that in person these pieces are extremely beautiful.