WonTon Delight!

Wontons Croccanti al Forno con Zucca Hokkaido , Feta , Paprika Affumicata, Miele & Timo

Crispy Baked Wontons with Hokkaido Pumpkin, Feta Cheese, Smoked Paprika, Honey & Thyme

Nope- nothing Asian going on here- not even fusion! What IS going on here, is a great combination of flavors! More Greek and Spanish than anything else... pure imagination on my part- and then wrapped in super-convenient wonton wrappers and baked in a hot oven, rather than fried in a deep pan. Sounds good to me!

Feta cheese, honey and thyme- typically Greek I'd say- and rich, smoked paprika, from Spain. Lovely ingredients to combine with some sweet, fresh pumpkin and to bake into these little snacks. And I'm telling you- you need to make them for your next party!

Gorgeous, golden, delicious and crispy... and healthy! You don't need to be deep-frying everything- seriously! Use some smarts, save some calories and enjoy your food! You know you deserve that! Well... at least I do!!!

To make 16 wonderful wontons, I needed... of course 16 wonton wrappers, a half block of Feta cheese, about 1 mugful of grated pumpkin- Hokkaido in this case, 1 spring onion, 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon of honey, salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh thyme and an optional pinch of cayenne.

Already gorgeous and tasty as they are, without the extra honey and thyme, there is plenty of flavor here within!

But you know we are going to be dressing them up in just a second! wink emoticon

These crispy little wontons make for a pleasant change from the usual party snacks... and you know me! I'm all about the change!

Begin by grating the pumpkin- if it is a Hokkaido, like this one, you don't even need to peel it. Fry it with the finely chopped spring onion, in just a little olive oil, for 4-5 minutes, until the pumpkin has all changed color and is soft and almost cooked-through.

Keep stir-frying until most of the moisture has evaporated, season with a little salt and then transfer to a mixing bowl.

Whilst it is still nice and hot, crumble in the Feta cheese, add the smoked paprika power and some black pepper and mix thoroughly together.

There are many ways to fold and seal wontons... this is the way that I made mine. These were small sized pastry sheets- just 4" or so, and I used just 1 teaspoon of filling for each wonton, simply set in the middle of the wrapper.

I folded the square wrapper over and pressed down firmly around the filling- and this pressure was enough to seal my wrappers together. As you can see, these are a nice-quality and relatively moist. But if you happen to have the kind of wrapper that is whiter and more paper-like, you may want to moisten the edges so that they stick together... but the bottom line IS- this filling is not going to "go anywhere" or cause you any heartache by this cooking method.

Now fold over each end so that they overlap and set them to one side, with these two overlapping ends facing downwards whilst you make the rest.

Brush lightly with a little olive oil from each side and then bake in a hot oven, at 200°C, for around 10 minutes from each side, until wonderfully, gloriously, golden brown!

Something a little bit like this!

And make sure not to forget to have that little bit of honey to drizzle over the top of them- it makes all the difference!

Honey if fine- but don't forget to take your thyme... and to sprinkle that generously on top too!

A last, light sprinkle of salt makes the sweetness of the honey and the freshness of the thyme dance a merry dance with your taste buds- which together with the already delicious ingredients inside makes these tastier still! 

I think you're going to like them!