Cooking for the holidays is a never-ending round of presenting favorite foods, in various ingenious — and wonderfully tasty — ways.

This recipe for appetizing mouthfuls assembled as easy-to-bite little turkey tarts calls for cooked turkey, cooked winter squash and chestnuts, among other ingredients.

AP Photo/Wilton (ENLARGE)
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Aha, cooks may say — perfect for leftovers. They're quite right.

On the other hand, you might opt to make the tarts even if you haven't got a pile of leftovers to use up, starting from scratch.

Either way, this is not a complicated recipe. You don't have to make pastry for the tarts — pick up won ton wrappers along with a few other simple ingredients at the grocery store.

And either way you'll have a rich and satisfying appetizer to hand (and no one but your pocketbook will ever know if you used "leftovers").

Makes 12 servings, of 2 tarts each

24 won ton wrappers

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

¼ pound (4 ounces) cream cheese, softened

4 eggs

4 tablespoons finely chopped green onions

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage

½ teaspoon salt (optional)

¼ teaspoon white pepper

1 cup diced cooked turkey

½ cup pureed or mashed cooked winter squash (see note)

¼ cup coarsely chopped cooked, peeled chestnuts (see note)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray cavities of 12-cup muffin pan with pan spray; press 12 won ton wrappers into cavities.

In food processor or with electric mixer, combine cheeses, cream cheese, eggs, 2 tablespoons of the green onions, sage, salt and pepper until smooth and well blended. Stir in turkey, squash and chestnuts. Spoon half of mixture into won ton cups. Sprinkle with additional green onions. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until set. Repeat with 12 remaining won ton wrappers and filling. Cool slightly to serve.

Note: Acorn or butternut squash work very well; almost any other squash, except maybe spaghetti squash, also would work. For chopped chestnuts, if preferred, substitute pine nuts.

Nutrition information per 1-tart serving: 90 cal., 5 g total fat (2.5 g saturated), 50 mg chol., 195 mg sodium, 7 g carbo., 0 g dietary fiber, 5 g pro.

(Recipe for AP from Wilton Enterprises)

By The Associated Press