food & dining
Fancy Spring Appetizers
W ith spring arriving to
the great joy of many,
so comes the season of
garden parties. These events generally
feature menus of light finger foods and
beverages and conclude as the night
falls and people head out for a more
substantial repast.

In the spirit of this seasonal event
format, I offer two appetizer recipes
that, full disclosure, I would not nor-
mally make. My readers know me to be
a rather fuss-free cook, but with local,
fresh asparagus, cilantro and scallions
bursting from every market, I was
inspired to offer these fancy canapes.

Phyllo dough terrifies some people,
but it’s not that scary if you focus on
the task at hand and stick with it. It’s
not an ingredient that lends itself to
multitasking, but these beauties are
worth the effort, I promise.

These are on the large side for a
canape, because they use the whole
asparagus stalk. I have certainly seen
these that only feature the top bit of
the stalk, but that seemed wasteful.

If you prefer a smaller canape, you
can simply cut the asparagus into
smaller pieces and cut the phyllo
dough to match it.

Asparagus Phyllo Appetizers
Makes 10 canapes using whole
stalks Panagiotis Kyriakos / iStock / Getty Images Plus
KERI WHITE | SPECIAL TO THE JE
1 package phyllo dough, defrosted
(you will not use it all)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
10 stalks green asparagus, trimmed
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Coarse ground black pepper
Dipping sauce (recipe follows)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Blanch the asparagus in a large
pot of boiling, salted water for 2
minutes until it turns bright green.

Drain the asparagus and immedi-
ately plunge it into a large bowl of ice
water to stop the cooking. Pat it with
paper towels and set it aside. (This
can be done a day ahead.)
Remove the defrosted phyllo from
the package, and place a damp towel
over it to keep it from drying out.

Remove one sheet of phyllo, and
place it on your work surface. Brush
it with a thin layer of melted butter,
then sprinkle it with the Parmesan
and pepper. Place another layer
on top and repeat with the butter,
cheese and pepper until you have
three layers.

Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife,
cut the phyllo into pieces slightly
shorter than the length of the aspar-
agus stalks.

Position a stalk of the asparagus
on the bottom edge of a rectangle,
and roll it up. Brush the tips and
outside with more butter, and place
them on a parchment-lined baking
sheet, seam side down. Repeat the
phyllo brushing/cutting/rollup step
until all the stalks are used.

26 APRIL 28, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM