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Cranberry Pinwheels

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posted in Vegetarian, Appetizers and Snacks by Kathy Maister
Difficulty:

These cranberry pinwheels are a great hors-d’oeuvre to serve year round, but they are especially perfect for the holidays. The dried red cranberries and the green scallions make them look really festive. Plus the sweet/savory combination of the cranberries, feta cheese and green onion make them particularly tasty. They can actually be made 1 day ahead of serving them.

You will need the following ingredients:

  • 1-8 ounces carton of whipped cream cheese
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
  • ¼ cup chopped green onion
  • 6 ounces of dried cranberries
  • 4-10 inch flour tortillas

There are many different brands of feta cheese. Some are saltier than others. You may have to try a few different brands until you find one that suits your taste! (Feta cheese is the one that is always served on a Greek Salad. I have used it on my Cold Mediterranean Plate.)

Tortillas are a Mexican, round, flat, unleavened, bread made of either corn or flour. For this recipe be sure to buy the flour tortillas. They can be found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store.

Preparation:

The green onions need to be washed. Then cut off the hairy end.

The white part has a stronger onion flavor than the green part. For this recipe I use the whole thing. Cut the green onions into thirds and line them up.

Now dice them into about 1/8 inch slices.

Put the crumbled feta cheese into a large mixing bowl.

Now add the whipped cream cheese.

And the chopped scallions.

Now all the cranberries.

Mix everything together.

Spread the mixture onto a dinner plate. Divide the mixture into four equal size piles. This way you know you have divided the filling equally and each Cranberry Roll-up will have the same amount of filling.

Using a knife spread ¼ of the mixture onto a 10 inch tortilla. If the filling is difficult to spread, dip your knife into water then try spreading the filling. (You can use the leftover flour tortillas to make Quesadillas!)

It is not necessary to spread the filling right to the very side edges. Those edges will get trimmed away later anyways in order to make perfect rounds.

Tightly roll up the tortilla.

Wrap each tortilla in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. (Or you can make them a day in advance.)

Slice off the ends about 1 inch on each side. (These are the bits that you sample!) Now cut each roll into about 10 slices. (If you cut them too thin they will fall apart.)

Arrange the slices on a serving dish and garnish (decorate) with fresh parsley or leftover green onion. Enjoy!

Source: Taste of Home

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7 comments

cehwiedel | posted on Dec 31, 2006

Thanks for a great tortilla roll-up variation — but why the insistence on *flour* tortillas? (I'm wheat-intolerant.) Are corn tortillas inherently unsuited for roll-ups? 

Kathy Maister | posted on Jan 1, 2007

Authentic, hand made corn tortillas which are really thin and pliable might work, but unfortunately the ones sold at my grocery store would not be suitable for this recipe.  (BTW my Holiday Cookies  are made with corn flakes and are suitable for those who have a wheat intolerance.)

Shaula Evans | posted on Jan 1, 2007

Kathy and Ceweidel, I'm wondering if a good alternative might be a pancake or wrap made from rice flour?  My local Asian market has a lot of different "wrap" type products — for rolls, dumplings, etc, and while many are made of wheat, some are rice flour.  (I'll check next time I'm there!)

Another really attractive option (if you like the flavour) would be to use nori seaweed, also known as laver — the seaweed used for rolled sushi.  You can buy it in large sheets, and the dark green would look beautiful with the white and red of the filling.  The only limitations with nori would be that it would get soggy if you made the recipe far in advance; you'd probably need to toast the nori right before you add the filling, to give the nori as much "crispness" as possible; and also put it all together just before serving.

cehwiedel, if you don't mind me asking, do you have a problem with all wheats, and is it really a gluten problem, or are essentally gluten free grains like spelt and kamut okay?  I'm thinking that it might be possible to find spelt-flour tortillas (depending on where you live).

A last option would be to just make up the filling as a dip, and serve it on wheat-free crackers.  It wouldn't look as pretty as the roll-ups, but at least there are some really good options on wheat-free crackers, you'd still get to enjoy the taste, and it could make a very attractive appetizer or hors-d'oeuvre in its own right.

I hope this helps!

~Shaula

Kathy Maister | posted on Jan 3, 2007

Thanks Shaula, sounds like you really know your stuff!  Great suggestions!

pat | posted on Dec 21, 2007

Please enter your commenteverything looks nice-----cannot wait to try--can you put salmon in the tortilla instead of cranberries!

Kathy Maister | posted on Dec 21, 2007

Using salmon sounds like a GREAT idea!  I would dice it and perhaps even add some dill.  Let me know how it turns out!

May | posted on Jul 17, 2008

Thanks Shaula, sounds like you really know your stuff!  Great suggestions!


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