Three Cheese Broccoli Bites
Italian sausage and ricotta combine with broccoli and even more cheese to pack a pile of flavor into each little bite. Excellent as a side dish or an appetizer!
Servings 24 bites
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb broccoli cut into florets
- 1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage
- 1/2 small onion minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Pull out a 24 well mini muffin pan.
- Blanch the broccoli for 1 minute only in boiling water. Drain and immediately put into cold water. Once the broccoli is cool, drain again and then blot thoroughly using a kitchen towel to remove as much of the water as possible. Chop the broccoli into small pieces.
- Saute the sausage over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add onion and salt, continuing sauteing until the onion is soft and the sausage is fully cooked, about 7 more minutes. Add garlic, stir, and remove skillet from heat.
- Whisk together ricotta and eggs in a large bowl until smooth. Then stir in parmesan, cheddar, cream, parsley, and paprika. Add sausage and broccoli and mix well.
- Divide the mixture among all the wells in the mini muffin pan, pressing it down a bit to pack each well and letting it mound over the top a little. You should have just enough of the mixture to fill each well.
- Bake the broccoli bites for 12-14 minutes, or until they are just starting to brown and the middle looks set. Don't bake them for more than 14 minutes.