A savory parmesan/walnut shortbread redolent of fresh rosemary, topped with a sweet and spicy cranberry sauce. An elegant cookie for sophisticated palates! You will end up with a lot of cranberry sauce leftover to serve at holiday dinners.
Ingredients
- For the shortbread:
1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated*
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened, cut into chunks
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons finly chopped fresh rosemary*
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
- For the topping:
1 (12-ounce) package cranberries
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium apple, cored, chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Optional garnishes: flavored Cheddar slices, Gruyère slices, walnuts
Directions
- Make the shortbread:
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Pulse the Parmesan and butter in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add flour, rosemary, walnuts, pepper and salt. Process until ingredients hold together. Divide dough into two equal halves. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half into a circle about 7-inches round and 1/8-inch thick. Cut into eight wedges. Transfer wedges to a cookie sheet. Bake until golden around edges, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.
- Make the topping:
- For topping, combine cranberries, sugar, water and spices in large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Stir in onions, apple and vinegar. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Before serving:
- Do not place the topping on the cookies if they have to sit for a very long time, because they will get soggy and you want them to stay crispy. Shortly before serving, top each slice of shortbread with a spoonful of the topping and decorate with optional garnishes. Or, place the topping in a small bowl with a spoon. Put the bowl in the center of a large plate and scatter shortbread around the bowl.
Notes
- * For the flavor of this cookie, it’s very important to use both FRESH parmesan cheese (not the cheap powdered stuff that comes in a shaker) as well as FRESH rosemary. If you use any substitutions, the cookie will be rather bland.
- This recipe makes a LOT of cranberry sauce. You will have a lot leftover for your turkey dinner. The high acidity of the cranberries means that it will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.