This elegant appetizer comes together easily with simple, time-saving ingredients. Frozen hash browns are pressed into mini muffin tins and baked into crispy nests filled with ham, lemony cream cheese, and peas. Serve them at your Easter dinner or spring cocktail party.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 5 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 36 nests |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 5 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 36 nests |
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 thick slices deli ham (about 4 ounces total)
- 16 ounces (about 3 1/2 cups) frozen shredded hash browns, thawed (about half of a 30-ounce bag)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- Finely grated zest of one lemon
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoon chopped chives (1/2-inch pieces)
- Paprika, for serving
Instructions
- Position two racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup and a 24-cup mini muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
- Cut the ham into small matchsticks similar in size to the hash browns. Set aside and reserve 1/3 cup of the ham. Mix the remaining ham, hash browns, 1 teaspoon salt and some pepper in a large bowl. Divide the mixture evenly among the sprayed cups, using about 1 rounded tablespoon each. Press the mixture in a thin layer across the bottom and up the sides of each cup to make a nest, leaving the edges uneven and jagged.
- Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the nests are dark brown around the tips and golden and crisp on the outside, about 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, lemon zest, milk 1/2 teaspoon salt, and some pepper together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Scrape the mixture into a resealable plastic bag, cut off the tip and set aside.
- When the nests are ready, remove them from the oven and let sit until they are cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Carefully lift the nests out of the tins using a small offset spatula or butter knife and transfer to a cookie sheet. Pipe the filling evenly among the nests. This may be done ahead; the nests can be set aside at room temperature until ready to serve, up to two hours.
- When ready to serve, heat the filled nests until the cream cheese is warm and the potatoes are crisp, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the frozen peas and cook until they are warm but not shriveled, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the peas in a colander, shaking to remove excess water.
- Transfer the nests to a serving platter. Top each with 1/4 teaspoon of the reserved ham, 3 peas and about 1/4 teaspoon chopped chives. Sprinkle with paprika and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 36 servings |
| Calories | 63 |
| Total Fat | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 5 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 1 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Cholesterol | 7 mg |
| Sodium | 77 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 36 servings |
| Calories | 63 |
| Total Fat | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 5 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 1 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Cholesterol | 7 mg |
| Sodium | 77 mg |
Reviews
These were fantastic! Made a bit more b/c the hash brown bag at TJs is 20 oz, so I doubled the cream cheese to make sure I would have enough. It was plenty – put the extra in a bowl with crackers and that was all eaten as well. I omitted the peas but more chives. I followed Connie’s suggestion below about adding an egg to the potato/ham mix. Made the nests 2 days ahead; filled couple of hours prior then put in the oven just as folks were arriving for Easter.
These were picture perfect! The lemon zest in the cream cheese was so fresh, but the dish needed a little more seasoning. Perhaps just more s&p? Or some fresh tarragon?
Pretty yummy and easy to make!
Tastes great and fun to make!
These were a hit at my Easter party, everyone loved them..over 21 guest. Severed room temp. I added chives to the cream cheese and made the night before.i was also a little paranoid about the hash browns not holdoldibg together so added an egg and made sure hash browns were pressed tightly.
Fabulous I think these can be made ahead cooked or not cooked. Meaning …I cooked the nests nite before. Kept in fridge overnite cooked next evening two hours before dinner took nests to room temp added piped cr cheese put peas and cooked carrots on top w pinch of Parmesan and reheated at 425 for just minutes watching to make sure they didn’t burn. Made a great appetizer as well as a side I think they could be made either cooked or uncooked nests and frozen for a week will try that later then filled when needed and reheated. I am impressed with this dish as a side filled w mashed potatoes w peas and carrots on top or appetizer as is. I made 100 and only two left microwaved them they were fine not as good as in oven but passable in a hurry . Will make these often but especially for Easter kids love them great way to get kids and adults to eat veggies too!
Why do you need regular muffin tins and mini muffin tins? are you supposed to use both, or one or the other?