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Gougeres with Creamy Blue Cheese Filling and Pear Compote

A new and different snack for the Super Bowl. Not a dip, not chili, not pizza. Something entirely new in the world of finger food. 

Course Appetizer
Cuisine French
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

For the Gougeres

  • 1 stick butter
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ cup flour
  • 4 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ¾ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 4 ounces Jarlsberg, Gruyere or Tallegio cheese shredded

For the Creamy Blue Cheese Filling

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk heated in microwave for 3 minutes
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 4 tablespoons Maytag or Point Reyes Blue Cheese
  • 1 egg yolk

For the Pear Compote

  • 1/2 cup Riesling I used Chateau St. Michelle
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • zest of two lemons cut into large strips
  • 6 whole allspice berries
  • 1 pound Bosc pears (about 4-5) peeled, cored and chopped into 1" dice
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Gougeres

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. In a heavy, medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and add the flour all at once and stir it rapidly with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly until it forms a ball and pulls away from the pan, about 2 minutes.
  4. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes. With an electric mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, each for at least 30 seconds.
  5. Add the cheese and nutmeg and stir until the cheese is melted. With a small, oiled ice cream scoop (about 1 tablespoon), make small, even balls of dough and drop them onto the parchment paper 2 inches apart. 
  6. After 15 minutes of baking, remove the pan from the oven, close the oven door and stick each of the puffs on the side with a sharp tipped knife to allow some of the steam to escape. This will keep the puffs from being soggy.
  7. Bake them for an additional 10 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat and let them cool. At this point you can freeze them and fill them with the blue cheese mixture later or use them the same day.

  8. When you are ready to fill them, bring the Gougeres to room temperature. Split each one of them in half horizontally with a thin, serrated knife (I like a tomato knife) but do not cut them all the way through. They should open like a book.

  9. Drop 1 tablespoon of cold blue cheese filling on each one and close the top.

  10. Bake the Gougeres for 20 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving with the pear compote.

Creamy Blue Cheese Filling

  1. In a medium, heavy saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter.

  2. Lower the heat to medium and add the flour all at once, whisking rapidly. Let the mixture cook for a full minute.


  3. Add the salt and the nutmeg to the hot milk, add the milk all at once to the pan and whisk until the sauce is smooth. 

  4. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the blue cheese. Let cool for 5 minutes and whisk in the egg yolk, blending well.

  5. Pour the filling into a pie plate and refrigerate it, covered, for at least two hours or up to 3 days.  Fill the Gougeres with the cheese mixture when it is cold. 

Pear Compote

  1. In a heavy, medium saucepan over medium hight heat, combine all of the ingredients except for the chopped pears. 

  2. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 more minutes until the liquid is well infused with the lemon zest and allspice. The mixture should be reduced by half.

  3. Remove the zest and allspice and discard. Add the chopped pears, lower the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the pears are almost falling apart, about 15-20 minutes. You want them to be soft but still maintain their shape.

  4. Let cool to room temperature. The compote can be refrigerated for a week.

  5. Before serving, bring the compote to room temperature and then heat it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes just to warm it. 

Recipe Notes

If you are freezing the Gougeres, allow them to cool completely. Freeze them first on a cookie sheet covered tightly with foil for at least a day. You can then put them into freezer bags and freeze them for no more than a month.