Sluttishly Savoury: Chilli Cheese Choux Bites

I went through a bit of a choux pastry phase during the summer after being given The Secrets of Eclairs by recipe book and made loads of chocolate eclairs (and put on about half a stone). It occurred to me at the time that I really should give some savoury ones a go, preferably stuffed with cheese and herbs and well, today was that glorious day. These make ace nibbles to accompany a few drinks, you can make the mixture in advance then bake as you need them.

I had some reduced fat mature cheddar and grana padano in the fridge so used those but any strong cheeses like stilton or parmesan will also be ace. If you're not a fan of chilli then you can leave out but I'd recommend popping a pinch of smoked paprika in its place, and if you don't fancy savoury choux buns then Siany has made some kickass limoncello and white chocolate profiteroles *drool*....

Chilli Cheese Choux Bites (makes about 40)
You will need:

• 8 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 70g butter, cubed
• 175ml cold water
• pinch salt
• 120g plain flour
• 4 medium free range eggs, beaten
• 100g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 20g freshly grated grana padano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic granules

Make it!

1. Preheat your oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Very gently fry the spring onions and chilli flakes in the olive oil for about 2 minutes then set aside to cool.
2. Put the butter, water and salt in a small saucepan, bring to the boil then remove from heat. Add the flour all in one go and stir quickly, return to a medium heat and continue stirring for 2 minutes, the mixture will have come away from the sides of the saucepan. Put the mixture in a big cold mixing bowl.
3. Using an electric whisk beat the mix on high speed then very gradually, whilst continually whisking, add a little bit of the beaten egg, whisk more then add more egg, repeat until all the egg is incorporated and the mixture is lovely and smooth.
4. Stir in the cheeses, spring onion mixture, pepper, garlic granules and dried thyme and make sure it is well mixed.
5. Line a roasting tin with greased baking paper then either using a piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle or a couple of teaspoons make about 12 cherry tomato sized choux mixture balls leaving about 3cm clear all the way round as they will puff up.
6. Bake for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 190C/375F/gas mark 5 and cook for a further 7 minutes or until they are golden brown and the bottoms are nice and crispy. Repeat this with the rest of the choux mixture.
7. Eat straight away or you can fill them with whatever you fancy.