Amaretto Purses with Mascarpone & Fontina

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This week we are all about fruit. Each recipe featuring a different one. Today's appetizer is about cherries. The recipe calls for dried cherries, but you could use chopped fresh ones also.

 Amaretto Purses with Mascarpone & Fontina

(adapted from Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board)

(Makes 8 appetizers)

1 cup Fontina Cheese

1 cup Mascarpone Cheese

1/4 cup Almonds

1 1/2 teaspoons Amaretto Syrup

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1/4 cup dried Tart Cherries

12 sheets Fillo Dough

4-5 tablespoons Butter

I could not find Amaretto syrup anywhere, so I made

my own. You should make the syrup first. You only need:

2 teaspoons Almond Extract

2 cups Sugar

1 cup Water

Combine 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water  in a saucepan.

Put it on medium heat. 

Bring to a boil, then add 2 teaspoons almond flavoring.

Turn down to medium heat and let the mix thicken. 

 Let cool.

Now, to the mix.

Combine the Fontina and Mascarpone cheeses.

The Fontina cheese should be grated, but if it becomes

too soft, just chop it in small pieces and it will blend 

easily with the Mascarpone.

Add the almonds, Amaretto, pepper, and cherries.

Mix well. Chill for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight.

After the mix is ready, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Defrost the fillo sheets. When they are totally soft,

open the roll and cut in half. 

Lay the fillo sheet out. Make sure to cover the rest with

plastic because it dries out very quickly. Try to limit the

amount of air that gets to the filo.

Brush the first sheet of fillo dough with butter,

then cover the first sheet with a second sheet,

and butter it with butter also.

 Put a tablespoon of the mix in the middle

of the dough.

Bring each corner of the dough to it's opposite corner.

Pinch the middle.

Place in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Serve hot.

 Enjoy!

Thanks for joining me today!

Tomorrow we will be making our salad dish for the 

Week of Fruit~Strawberry Avocado Salad!

Hope you will join us!