Here is a simple starter idea for the holidays: Goat cheese, Apple & Pear Filo Parcels or aumônière in French. The sweetness of the pear and the acidity of the apple are a perfect match for the goat cheese.

This year, in partnership with Taste France Magazine, the theme of my Christmas menu is Christmas à la Française, showcasing delicious good French products, including, French goat cheese and French apples.

Article written in cooperation with Taste France Magazine for ANICAP, the official representative of the French goat dairy industry

Filo parcels or aumônière, a classic of French cuisine

The aumônière is a classic of French cuisine. It is a small filo parcel filled with various ingredients according to the chef’s wishes. The aumônière is generally served as an appetizer. It can also be served as a main course with a salad for a simple and light meal.

The aumônière is prepared with filo pastry or brik pastry sheets. The goal is to obtain an ultra-crispy texture in contrast with a melting filling inside.

Not only is the aumônière visually very pretty, but also the cooking inside the filo pastry makes the filling tender, without drying it out and preserving the flavours.

It is an ideal starter for Christmas or Mother’s Day meals, to impress your guests while remaining very simple to make.

Which goat cheese to choose for baking?

First of all, I recommend looking at where your cheese comes from and choosing a French goat cheese. The variety of goat cheeses from France is incredible and they are all worth trying!

All French goat cheeses are suitable for cooking, whether they are raw milk or pasteurized milk. For this recipe, I chose one of my favorite and relatively easy to find French goat cheeses: the Chabichou du Poitou PDO.

If you can’t find Chabichou du Poitou, you can also turn to other French goat cheeses such as Crottin de Chavignol, Bûche de Chèvre, Selles-sur-Cher or a fresh French goat cheese.

How to make this filo parcels?

Making these filo parcels is very simple, here are the four most important steps:

• OIL: It is important to coat the filo or brick pastry withoil so that it does not break. The oil also goes to enhance the flavors. Be sure to turn the sheet over and brush it on both sides. I used olive oil but you can also use sunflower oil or melted butter.
• FILLING: Once the filling is ready, place it in the center of the sheet, leaving enough room on the outside edges (see photos below).
• CLOSE: To close the parcels, simply fold the edges inwards to form a small package. To finish, you can fix the parcels with one or two toothpicks.
• BAKING: To bake, it is best to place the parcels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 175°C (fan oven).

The steps of the recipe

List of ingredients

• Filo or brik pastry: The aumônière is traditionally made with a filo pastry or brik pastry sheets, a very thin dough that crisps when cooked. Usually sold round, I tested with a rectangular pastry sheet and it worked great!
• French goat cheese: I used a French goat cheese, more precisely a Chabichou du Poitou DPO with raw milk. Learn more about which cheese you can choose here.
• Apple: I used a French Golden, Gala or Honey Crunch apple. I prefer an apple that holds together when cooked and is slightly sweet.
• Pear: I used a French pear, such as Conference or Williams.
• Thyme: I used fresh thyme. The combination of thyme, goat cheese and apple is a great classic that I have already presented in my recipe for Goat Cheese and Apple Puff Pastry.
• Honey: Honey enhances the taste of apple and pear and also goes well with goat cheese.
• Salted butter: I used salted butter to brown the apple and pear. If you prefer classic butter, that works too. If you don’t have butter, you can sauté the fruit in olive oil.

Preparation of the goat cheese, apple and pear filling

For the ganiture, I first cut the apple and pear into small cubes.

I recommend you to cut them in cubes and not in slices, because the slices would be too large compared to the filo pastry.

I then sautéed the apple and pear in a pan with salted butter for 5 minutes to give them a slightly caramelized flavor. I also added fresh thyme for the taste.

Then I cut my Chabichou du Poitou PDO cheese into thin slices.

Then, I placed my filling in the center of the filo pastry and formed my parcels as explained above.

More holiday recipes

• Christmas Apple Roses
• Christmas decoration idea : Oranges with Cloves
• Christmas Tree Pops
• Homemade Salmon Gravlax

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