Green Chile-Cheese Pillows

Here's the canape I fixed for our pot-luck wine dinner last week. I got the recipe from culinary instructor Anne Legg at a great class she taught at Central Market a couple of weeks ago on make-ahead hors d'ouerves. We had them with California sparkling wine, but they would also be great with a light white wine like Sauvignon Blanc or even a margarita.

Green Chile-Cheese Pillows
Makes 30-36 pieces.

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 Poblano chiles or 4 New Mexico green chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded (You can buy frozen chopped Hatch chiles at Central Market.)
2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon chipotle Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 tablespoons plain dry breadcrumbs
1 package phyllo dough, thawed in refrigerator overnight
1 1/2 stick butter, melted

Beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth. Finely chop chiles and beat into cream cheese. Beat in Tabasco, chili powder and seasoned salt. Add grated cheese by handfuls and beat well. Add breadcrumbs. Mixture will be fairly stiff.

Scoop 1/2 of mixture into pastry bag (or substitute Ziploc bag) and set aside.

Unroll one of two bags of phyllo in package onto a clean counter. Cover with plastic wrap and damp kitchen towel

Lay one sheet of phyllo on a clean work surface and brush quickly with melted butter. lay second sheet of phyllo over first and brush again with melter butter. Repeat to make four layers total, but do not butter top sheet.

Use kitchen shears to cut stack of phyllo into quarters. Lay with short ends facing you, unbuttered side up. Pipe a fat row of filling 1/2 inch above bottom of each square, leaving a one inch border on either side.

Fold long edges into center and fold up the dough from the bottom, pressing lightly to make a burrito-shaped package. Butter the top two inches of dough before the final fold so the loose end will adhere. Brush the outside lightly with butter on all sides. Repeat with three remaining pieces of dough. Place pillows, seam-side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Repeat with remaining filling and rest of dough in package. (Open second bag when you need to.) Refrigerate pillows until ready to use. (Note: Pillows can be made ahead and frozen at this point. Once they are frozen on baking sheet, place them in heavy quart size Ziploc bags. They can be stored for up to three months and do not need to be thawed before baking.)

To bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake refrigerated pillows 12 minutes or frozen pillows 15-18 minutes, until pastry is a rich golden brown.

Allow pillows to cool 10 minutes before serving. Filling will be very hot.