Eleventh Day of Christmas Recipe

Anne's 12 Days of Christmas Recipes

 On the eleventh day of Christmas, for my lady friends, I cooked...

~ Eleven Pipers Piping ~

 Anne presents...

Zucchini Flutes with Piped Basil Mousse,
and Pistachio-Cheese Pipes

This was a little break for me... just two easy appetizers.  I met with some lady friends for a little Christmas get-together, and we all brought appetizers.  These two recipes were my contribution.  The Basil-Ricotta Zucchini Flutes were really, really good which surprised me because I'm not normally a fan of ricotta cheese. The ladies all seemed to like them as well.  The Pistachio Cheese Pipes were kinda weird.  I found a recipe online, and strayed from it quite a bit by adding raspberries and using cream cheese instead of taleggio cheese, whatever that is.  I didn't know how cream cheese, raspberries, and pistachios could go wrong, but it did.

Anne's Fun Facts:

Cost of 11 Pipers Piping (2010 Christmas Price Index) =$2,354.00

The 11 Pipers were traditionally playing bagpipes as part of the celebration with the dancers.

*****************************

Recipes:

Zucchini Flutes with Piped Basil-Ricotta Mousse
12 servings;  ~50 calories/serving


Ingredients:
6  small zucchini
Cooking spray
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1 cup (8 oz) low-fat Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2  tablespoons  hot water
1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
Parsley sprigs (optional)

Directions:

Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell. Reserve pulp for another use. Arrange zucchini shells in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine basil and next 7 ingredients (through pepper), stirring well with a whisk.  Pipe mixture evenly among shells, pressing gently. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

**********************

Pistachio-Cheese Pipes

Original recipe:

1&1/4 cups taleggio cheese, chopped

3/4 cup pistachios, shelled and chopped

3 tablespoons milk

phyllo dough

Melt the taleggio over low heat, add pistachios and milk.  Mix until smooth, then remove from heat.  Cut out 24 3" squares of phyllo dough.  Spread a thick bar of filling on one end of phyllo, then roll up.  Bake at 375º until golden brown, about 5-10 minutes.

Anne's recipe (not very good):

pistachios, shelled and chopped

cream cheese

raspberries

phyllo dough

I mixed everything together, and spread the mixture onto the phyllo and rolled up.  Baked for 5 minutes.  Tasted weird.

**********************
Anne's 12 Days of Christmas Recipes  

1st Day: Partridge in Pear Tree             7th Day: Seven Swans a-Swimming
2nd Day: Two Turtledoves                    8th Day: Eight Maids a-Milking
3rd Day: Three French Hens                 9th Day: Nine Ladies Dancing
4th Day: Four Calling Birds                  10th Day: Ten Lords a-Leaping
5th Day: Five Gold Rings                     11th Day: Eleven Pipers Piping
6th Day: Six Geese a-Laying                12th Day: Twelve Drummers Drumming