This recipe makes 24 small parcels however if you fancy making them as a starter for Christmas Day you could make them twice the size and only make 12. They would be 4sp instead of 2sp each.

These are best served hot as, once they start to cool down, the filo pastry can go a little soft. Still delicious but the crispyness of the pastry is lovely too. If you are making for a party contribution, make them up at home and take them with you uncooked. Then quickly cook them at the party for maximum oooooo’s.

I made these and took them along to class last week and they went down a storm. They are so simple to make and feel like a real treat for only 2sp. The perfect treat to take along to any festive party to make sure you can eat and stay on track!

Turkey, Brie and Cranberry Bites

Makes 24 = 2sp each (flex)

Ingredients

150g filo pastry (from a 220g pack)

500g 2% fat turkey mince, raw

3 spring onions, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 chicken stock cube (to be crumbled so not a stock pot)

Grating of nutmeg

1 small orange

5 tbsp cranberry sauce

100g brie, diced into 25 cubes

Salt and pepper

80g lightest lurpack

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Take a large bowl and add the turkey mince, spring onion, garlic, crumbled stock cube, a little grating of nutmeg and the zest of the small orange. Pop 4 tbsp of the cranberry sauce into the microwave for 30-40 seconds so it melts and add to the bowl. Season well with salt and black pepper. Mix everything together until well combined and pop to one side.

Lay the filo pastry out on a chopping board (one sheet on top of another) and cut all the sheets into 9 equal sized squares. You will only need 6 of the square piles so save the others for another day. Cover pastry with a tea towel (you want to work quite quickly as the filo can dry out quickly and go crispy making it difficult to work with).

Pop 80g of light butter in a bowl, microwave for 20 seconds to melt and pop on the side with a pastry brush.

Pop the brie cubes in another bowl and get ready to assemble.

Take one square of pastry, brush with a little butter, add another square on top of it to form a ‘star’ shape, brush again and then top with a third. Add a heaped tsp of the turkey filling and push a cube of brie right into it (the meat should surround the cheese to stop it spilling out the pastry when cooking). Fold the corners of the pastry in to the centre to formal a little parcel, sealing with a little more butter.

Place each parcel on the baking tray. Repeat 23 times to make 24 parcels in total. All parcels should have a little butter on top before they go in the oven.

Pop the baking tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the pastry goes golden, the turkey mince is cooked through and the brie has started to melt.

Finally, mix 1 tbsp cranberry sauce with the juice of the small orange. Pop in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt the cranberry sauce and stir both together to form a loose dipping sauce.

Serve hot with either the dipping sauce in the centre or drizzled over the top. Finish with a little orange zest over the top (not essential but looks pretty!).

Enjoy!

The post Christmas Canapés 2 – Turkey, Brie and Cranberry Bites – 2sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

One of the things I’ve done to tackle this for a good few years now, is to always take along a contribution to the buffet that you have prepared and know exactly how many points are in it! I find this way, I know I’ve got something I can eat that I’m going to enjoy, and I can track it without guesstimating.

It got me to thinking, I should probably post some of my little party canape creates so, every Friday in December leading up to Christmas, I will be sharing with you one of my buffet/canape creations.

The first is one I actually make all year round as it so quick and easy and always goes down a treat. Who doesn’t like meat, cheese and pesto!! Give it a whirl, you won’t be disappointed.

Mozzarella, Pepparoni and Pesto Boccones!

Makes 24 = 1sp each (flex)

Ingredients

24 cocktail sticks

240g half fat mozzarella ball, sliced into 12 cubes (I got mine in Tesco  if you can get a hold of the half fat ones, you could use 200g of the full fat mozzarella balls but each boccone becomes 2sp each).

24 pepparoni/salami slices

24 small fresh basil leaves

24 sun dried tomatoes, each sliced into 2

2 tsp green pesto

Juice of 1 lemon

Tablespoon of water

Method

On to each cocktail stick add half a sun dried tomato, then a cube of mozzarella, then a slice of pepperoni/salami, then a folded basil leaf, then the other half of the sun dried tomato.

In a bowl, add the green pesto, water and lemon juice and mix together.

Pop the assembled buccone onto a plate and drizzle over the lemony pesto mix.

Finish with a good twist of salt and black pepper.

Enjoy!

The post Christmas Canapes – Mozzarella, Pepparoni and Pesto Boccones first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.