Name: Pesto and Parmesan Phyllo Sticks
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 260 g phyllo sheets (2 x 6 sheets); 50 g basil pesto; 50 g dried tomato pesto; 50 g parmesan (or aged cheddar); 1 tbsp olive oil (in spray better); salt

Red and Green Pesto and Parmesan Phyllo Sticks are crunchy, fun and easy appetizer to make for the holiday season. A crowd pleaser guaranteed!

This holiday season is going to be a hit with those two color Pesto and Parmesan Phyllo Sticks. They are easy to do and terribly fun and tasty. I’ve used two different types or pesto; the popular green pesto a la genovese (basil) and also a red pesto (dried tomato). I thought it would be great to have both colors for the holidays. Those fingers are a nice bite for any dinner party, finger buffet or snacks. You can easily cook them ahead of time and they stay crispy and tasty for long leaving you time to work on other things while the guests are gathering around the table.

The cheese

This recipe suggest parmesan because it brings in an extra umami touch but it could easily be any aged cheese. No need to be too generous, just one thin layer is plenty. The highlight of the show here is pesto. You can use a pre-made pesto or make your own. For my part, I’ve use a concentrated pesto from an Italian restaurant I love. They make such a concentrated and tasty pesto, I had to dilute it with extra olive oil for this recipe.

Down in the directions I don’t specify this: because pesto can have many consistencies, so make sure it’s liquid enough to spread with a brush on the phyllo sheets. We’ll have 2 layers (the third and final layer is empty) of pesto, I’ve added them inside the rolls or finger, so the color from the pesto don’t show through the fingers. They look innocent and plain from the outside but once you bite into one, they will give you a powerful punch of flavor. Plus, I like the texture or those appetizers, love the contrast between crunchy phyllo and smooth pesto and cheese. A great and festive appetizer!

The Technique

As for the instruments for this recipe, I suggest you use an olive oil spray or a brush, it results always lighter and prevent the fingers from getting too oily. As for the technique, I let you some pictures up here to help visualise the amount of pesto. If you use too much pesto your rolls will end up too oily and drip. Note that my pesto is super dense so you might also need to adjust the pesto with oil to make it workable.

So let’s make those crunchy holiday sticks!

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