Flaky, savory, simple – these broccoli mac & cheese bites are my new favorite holiday party food.  They’re quick to prepare and hearty enough that both vegetarians and omnivores will love them!  I’ll be making these again for Christmas Eve.  The day is usually pretty busy, so I need something easy.  These can also be made ahead of time and frozen. 

This month the Recipe Redux theme was…

Grab a Book & Cook
It’s the end of the year and we’ll taking a moment to reflect: ReDux has been around for 42 months! (Can you believe some of you have ReDux-ed 42 recipes?) To celebrate, we’re playing a little party game this month: Grab your nearest cookbook and ReDux the recipe on page 42 or 142. We can’t wait to see the books you’re cooking from these days – and how you make that recipe healthier.

 I wanted to use my Marshall Field’s Cookbook , because that store just meant Christmas to us growing up – the windows, the Walnut room, just the hustle and bustle of the store at Christmas time.  The recipe on page 42 just wasn’t inspiring me, so I went with my The Chicago Tribune Cookbook (yes, I own every Chicago-themed cookbook ever published.)  Page 42 features Spicy Veal Puffs with Mustard Cream Sauce.  Spicy veal meatballs are wrapped in phyllo dough then smothered in creamy mustard sauce.  While I’m sure these would be delicious, I couldn’t get over the amount of fat and salt that went into these.  I wanted to not only lighten it up, but simplify it as well.  I kept the phyllo dough, but ditched the meat and added rich, creamy mac and cheese!  These can be assembled in 10 minutes, then baked or frozen for later.  Pair these with Pear Prosciutto Wraps for a beautiful and easy appetizer spread!  I hope you have a wonderful week!  Merry Christmas!

The sheets of phyllo dough are incredibly delicate and dry out quickly, so make sure you have everything ready to go when you take them out of the refrigerator.  After laying down each sheet, spray it generously with olive oil cooking spray.  Typically each sheet is brushed with melted butter, but the spray works just as well and still results in flaky, crispy bites.