One of my favorite things about cooking is the actual process that it takes to create a dish and make it look appealing. BUT, there are also times when stress and busy schedules have gotten the best of you and you need some help. That is when you cheat and look for some easy shortcuts.
The latest shortcut I found were these little phyllo dough tart cups at the grocery store freezer in the pastry section. They come empty, but you can fill them with anything you want, bake them and you're done. Chocolate, a pastry cream, spinach, blue cheese and cranberries, not all at once though, that would be gross! These bacon quiche cups probably took me a collective 10 minutes to make, minus baking time. Here was my filling:
1/2 cup ricotta (use low-fat, you can't tell a difference)
1 egg
1/2 cup mozz
1/2 cup cheddar
6 oz bacon
1 onion chopped finely
1/2 tsp garlic powder
dash cayenne
dash black pepper
You could probably fill about 60-70 tarts with just this, so you may want to half it with a smaller crowd.
Mix all ingredients together, fill phyllo cups and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. These are good warm and at room temp. This was another dish that disappeared first, but they are also very tiny, so don't be shy about serving a lot, they will be gone by the end of your party.
