Jamón Serrano, sage & Parmesan Puffs

Oh gosh, still waiting for the laundry to come out of the washing machine and feeling totally exhausted from cleaning all day. We are leaving to the summer place tommorow morning so I want the house to be spotless when we get back. There is nothing worse than coming home to a dirty house...Anyways, this Christmas I have been making a lot of puff pastries that are perfect to serve for guests before dinner with aperativés. There are different ways of making these, but I use Gordan Ramsay's recipe, so I thought I would share thiswith you guys ... 

This recipe makes about 35 small pieces

85g unsalted butter

100g flour

pinch of salt

3 medium eggs

100g parma ham (I used seranno) finely chopped

handfull of sage leaves, finely chopped

40g parmesan, finely grated

First heat the oven to 200 C. Put the butter and 220 ml of water into a pan and slowly let it melt. Once it has melted, turn the heat to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, sift the flour and salt together into a bowl. As soon as the liquid comes to a boil add this into the flour and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until it becomes a solid paste. Spread this mixture on a plate and let it cool. 

Once cooled, return to the paste. Beat in the eggs, one by one so the mixture becomes smooth. Add the chopped parma ham, sage leaves and parmesan and mix together. In Gordan Ramsey's receipe, it says that the mixture should be a runny content, but mine has always been rather solid and still works beautifully.. so don't worry if your's does the same. Next, by either using a piping bag, spoon or even your hands, place small rolls (dollapes) on a baking tray that has a lightly greased baking paper on it. I wet my hands and roll the paste in my palms like when making meatballs. Place these on the baking paper with a space between each one, since they grow in the heat. Bake these in the oven for about 20 minutes until they are golden brown.