Celebrate Mom with an elegant tea service featuring savory updates to traditional treats. These sophisticated small bites showcase the flavors of Italy to create a memorable Mother’s Day meal with plenty of tea party charm.
Ingredients
Pesto Prosciutto Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon grated parmesan
3 slices prosciutto, diced
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 large egg
3 tablespoons Armanino Basil Pesto
½ cup unsalted butter, frozen (1 stick / 4 oz)
heavy cream, for topping
grated parmesan, for topping
Garlic Herb Salmon & Prosciutto Tartlets
15 mini phyllo pastry cups
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons Armanino Creamy Garlic Sauce
1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely minced
salt and ground black pepper
2 oz cold smoked salmon (like lox)
2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto
Basil Cucumber Sandwiches
12 slices soft white sandwich bread
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoon Armanino Basil Pesto
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh
basil leaves
pinch of salt
english cucumber, thinly sliced (about ⅛-inch)
Tortellini Antipasti Skewers
¼ lb Armanino Cheese Tortellini
1 tablespoon Armanino Basil Pesto
6 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
8 slices hard salami, thinly sliced
8 small cherry tomatoes
Directions
Pesto Prosciutto Scones
For the dough: Whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and parmesan together in a large bowl.
Add the diced prosciutto and rub with the flour mixture to break up the pieces.
Whisk the heavy cream, egg, and pesto together in a separate small bowl. Set aside.
Grate the frozen butter with the large holes of a box grater.
Add the butter to the flour mixture and toss quickly with your fingers until well distributed.
Drizzle the pesto/cream mixture over the flour mixture then mix gently together with a fork until everything comes together. Try not to overmix – you want to see visible pieces of butter. If mixture is still dry, drizzle in a little more cream but try to avoid if possible.
Pat the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle (roughly 7 ½ x 4-inch) and cut into 8 pieces for large or 16 pieces for smaller scones.
Place the scones 2-inch apart on a parchment lined sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the lower third.
Brush the chilled scones lightly with heavy cream and bake – larger scones take close to 25 minutes, smaller around 18 minutes total. Halfway through baking, sprinkle each scone with a pinch of grated parmesan, rotate the pans and continue baking until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top.
Remove from the oven and cool. Serve warm or room temperature.
While best the same day they’re baked, leftover scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Garlic Herb Salmon & Prosciutto Tartlets
Crisp up the phyllo cups in a 350°F oven for 3-5 minutes. Let cool fully.
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, creamy garlic sauce, chopped dill and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag or a zipper type plastic bag.
Snip a corner of the piping bag and pipe the filling into the cooled phyllo cups.
Cut the prosciutto and salmon into 1” wide strips and roll up for form a rose shape.
Press the roses gently into the filling. Garnish the salmon tartlets with a bit of fresh dill.
Basil Cucumber Sandwiches
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, basil pesto, chopped basil and a pinch of salt.
Spread each piece of bread generously with the pesto cream cheese.
Cover half the bread slices with cucumber slices; top with the other slices of bread and press down gently.
With a serrated knife, cut off the crusts then cut the sandwiches into triangles.
Tortellini Antipasti Skewers
Cook the tortellini in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and rinse in cold water then spread on sheet pan to fully cool.
Toss the tortellini with the basil pesto to coat.
Fold half of a salami slice twice and thread onto a small wooden skewer. Follow with a pesto tortellini and either a cherry tomato or an artichoke heart.
Chef’s Tips
Garlic Herb Salmon & Prosciutto Tartlets
Find the phyllo cups in the freezer section of your favorite grocery store. If you can’t find them, this recipe works equally well piped onto fancy crackers.
Don’t care for salmon or prosciutto? Thin ribbons of cucumber wound into a rosette can work as can small shrimp, halved cherry tomatoes or thin slices of roast beef.
Basil Cucumber Sandwiches
Cucumber sandwiches are classic teatime fare but these sandwiches would be equally delicious with thin slices of smoked salmon or roast beef in addition to the cucumber.
For additional color and a heartier flavor, use a whole wheat or pumpernickel bread in place of the white bread.
Tortellini Antipasti Skewers
These skewers have infinitesimal variations. Change up the salami with prosciutto, mortadella or pepperoni. Use any variety of pickled peppers or pitted olives. Add a piece of fresh mozzarella or provolone. Whatever strikes your fancy.
For a heartier bite, drizzle the skewers with additional basil pesto and serve on thin slices of baguette to sop up the extra sauce.
