Ham and Cheese Tarts

Christmas. Ham smoked twelve hours. The ritual. Travis, Jolene, Earl Thomas — almost two. Clay and Sarah. Amber, James, Nadia — ten months, sitting in the high chair like a small queen surveying her kingdom. The table overflowing.

James brought egusi soup again and a new dish — suya, grilled spiced meat on skewers, the spices a blend he grinds himself from peanuts and ginger and paprika and other things he won't fully disclose because the suya spice is his mother's recipe and recipe secrecy runs in all families, not just mine. The suya was extraordinary — smoky and spicy and the peanut giving it a richness that paired with the ham like they were meant to sit on the same table, which they were, because this table is where America happens, where Harlan County and Lagos and Whitesburg all sit down together and eat.

Earl Thomas opened presents with the focused intensity of a child who has discovered that paper conceals objects and paper can be destroyed. He destroyed the paper. He loved the objects. I gave him a small wooden spoon, child-sized, for the kitchen. He held it up and said mine PawPaw and I said yes, yours, keep it, use it, stir with it, make something with it someday. He will not remember this Christmas. But the spoon will be there, and the spoon will remember for him.

The ham was the anchor of the whole day — twelve hours in smoke, patient and certain the way Christmas ought to feel — and long after the table was cleared and Earl Thomas had fallen asleep clutching his wooden spoon, I kept thinking about how ham done right needs nothing more than a little cheese and good company to become something worth remembering. These ham and cheese tarts are my way of carrying that Christmas table forward into the ordinary days, a bite-sized reminder that the best food is the kind you make for a room full of people you love.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 24 tarts

Ingredients

2 cups finely diced cooked ham
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 packages (15 count each) mini phyllo tart shells, thawed

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Arrange phyllo tart shells on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer.
Make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine diced ham, cheddar, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, green onion, parsley, black pepper, and garlic powder. Stir until evenly mixed.
Fill the shells. Spoon approximately 1 heaping teaspoon of ham and cheese filling into each phyllo shell, mounding it slightly. Do not overfill or the shells may crack.
Bake. Bake for 18–20 minutes, until the filling is hot and bubbly and the cheese is melted and lightly golden on top.
Rest and serve. Allow tarts to rest for 3–5 minutes before serving. Garnish with an additional pinch of fresh parsley if desired. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Ham and Cheese Tarts — For the Table Where America Happens