Savory Choux, Two Ways

Directions

For the Choux:

1. Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. 
2. Cube butter and add it to the cold or room temp water in a medium saucepan. Turn heat to medium-low.
3. Add salt to the pan and stir as the butter slowly melts. You’re not looking for a bubbling, hard boil on the water, just for everything to warm up and melt together.
4. As soon as everything is incorporated, take the pan off the heat and add the flour all at once. 
5. With a rubber spatula, drench the flour ensuring no dry spots. As soon as the flour is absorbed, return the pan to the stovetop.
6. Continue to stir mixture on medium-low heat for 2-5 minutes until a dough that sticks together has been formed and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
7. Transfer dough mixture to a bowl.
8. Add eggs one at a time, mixing each egg thoroughly into the dough mixture before adding the next.

NOTE: You may need 3 eggs, you may need 4. If you get to 3 and your dough is sticky, homogenous, smooth, and glossy, don’t add the 4th. If you can ball up the dough into separate clusters, it needs another egg – this should be one homogenous, smooth mixture. 

9. Once your eggs are added, you’re ready to pipe! Transfer to a piping bag with a smaller round tip. I highly recommend reusable piping bags; single use plastic is SO 2016!
10. On a parchment lined baking sheet, pipe small choux rounds no bigger than a golf ball. These are smaller than normal choux cream puffs because they are hoeur d’oeuvres! They won’t expand very much in the oven, so you can pipe them fairly close together. 
11. Put in the oven for 25 minutes. If they still look a bit pale after 25, add increments of 5 minutes until you have a beautiful, golden choux puff. Cook time will depend on size. 

Filling One: Caramelized Onion Mushroom Ricotta

1. Dice the onion into small bits. Remember that the filling has to fit through a piping tip, so make sure they’re able to be piped into the choux. 
2. Start with caramelizing the onion with some olive oil in a medium-low heat pan. This takes a while, so be patient. Keep stirring them – if you don’t, they won’t caramelize evenly. 
3. In the meantime, you can brown the mushrooms! Chop them into small bits, and brown with olive oil in a small pan on high heat. I recommend chopping with the knife parallel to the mushroom’s height, then chopping the other way to create a small dice. 
4. While that’s cooking, combine the lemon and ricotta in a bowl. 
5. Once the onions and mushrooms are cooked, add them to the lemon and ricotta and mix. 
6. Taste and add salt and pepper as you see fit. I did about 1/2 tsp of each. 

Filling Two: Spinach Artichoke, A Classic.

NOTE: this makes a lot of filling! If you’re only looking to fill the choux, cut it in half. I enjoyed having some leftover dip to share with my roommates and enjoy with focaccia or tortilla chips.

1. Drain and chop artichoke hearts into bits small enough to be piped
2. Mix all the ingredients together: spinach, artichokes, cream cheese, sour cream, mozzarella, parmesan, and garlic. 
3. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as necessary. Up to 1/2 tsp of each should be plenty; the artichoke hearts are already salty.

To Fill the Choux:

1. Transfer fillings to piping bags
2. Use a small knife to puncture a hole in the bottom of the choux puff. This will allow you to insert the piping tip into the puff and fill it with the two fillings. Remember not to overfill the choux!
3. After choux puffs are filled, drizzle a nice olive oil over them (I used herbs de provence flavored olive oil) and garnish with parsley. Enjoy!