Football Feast Part 2

Sorry everybody, I know it's been a while since my last post! I'm in the middle of studying for my LAST psychology exam (well, for my B.A. that is...) so I've been rather busy. But since I have the day off from work today I figured I would take a little study break and continue with my Football Feast posts. As promised, what follows is the recipes for Chicken Parmesan Bites and Mediterranean Won Ton Cups...

First, the Chicken Parmesan Bites. Well, more accurately, mine would be called Turkey Parmesan Bites. Pretty much the same thing. Anyway, these were so cute in delicious, they had the honor of making it to my favorite recipes binder. Here's the link to the original recipe. And here's my version...

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots (I just used a regular yellow onion, minced really small)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 1/4 cups panko
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
16 small fresh mozzarella balls (I used Boccocini and I actually got 30 out of this recipe. I'm pretty sure I didn't double it. Whatever, just use as many mozza balls as it takes to get rid of the meat mixture).
1/2 cup marinara sauce (I used my homemade sauce)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet and saute onions (shallots) until soft. Add garlic and saute for one more minute.
Mix the shallot/garlic mixture with the ground turkey (or chicken, if using), 1/4 cup panko, oregano, basil, and salt in a large bowl. Carefully wrap one mozzarella ball completely with the turkey mixture, then roll in the remaining panko crumbs. Continue until turkey mixture is gone, placing balls on a lightly greased baking pan. Once all the balls are complete, place in oven and bake for about 20 mins or until turkey is cooked through. When they come out of the oven, place a toothpick in each ball and serve with marina sauce.

Ta da!! Frickin' adorable. And addictive.

Next up, Mediterranean Won Ton Cups.

I had made these for the first time a few days prior for a dinner party with some friends. I had prepped the mixture ahead of time and left it in the fridge at work so when it came time to assemble, the mixture was cool and a little difficult to work with. When I made these for the second time, I left the cream cheese at room temperature and it was much easier to work with. This recipe comes from Kraft Canada and though I am a little bit of a recipe snob these days, this one actually was pretty good. Also, I couldn't find the cream cheese this recipe asked for so I used a mixture of two different kinds. So here goes...

Ingredients:
24 won ton wrappers
1/2 of a 250g tub of roasted red pepper cream cheese and 1/2 of a 250g tub of herb and garlic cream cheese.
1/4 cup finely chopped roasted red peppers
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Miracle Whip

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Place one won ton wrapper in each cup of a 24 cup mini muffin tin that has been lightly greased. Press the won ton wrapper gently into edges of the cup with the ends sticking out over top. Bake for 5 minutes. While those are baking, mix the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl. Take won ton cups out of the oven and place about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into each cup. Bake these for 12 to 14 minutes or until filling is heated through and the edges of the won ton are golden brown.

Bite size snacks are some of my favorite things in the world.

Next up, the dessert that I made to go along with all of this deliciousness. Stay tuned....

xoxo

-A