Juicy, cheesy spinach and ricotta filling enclosed in buttery, flaky puff pastry. These Spinach and Ricotta Rolls are excellent finger food for parties, snack food on the go, and popping into lunch boxes. Snack Monsters’ dream come true! Plus, they are great for making ahead.
Posting live from regional Queensland amid mango harvesting at the Groves’ Tropical Orchard!!! Readers may remember that I visited this same farm in early 2016. This City Gal turned Northern Beaches Gal Wanna-Be-Country-Gal swept into Yeppoon, armed with cameras and gadgets, ready to get stuck into the farm life. I turned up dressed completely inappropriately (who wears a sparkly clean WHITE TOP to a farm??), and as it happens, I just missed the harvesting season. The mango trees were bare, with just a few late bloomers remaining. I arrived yesterday and was greeted so warmly by the Groves Family – Boss Man Ian, Boss Lady Sandi, their daughter Mel (Australia’s Best Mango Grader), and their son David (if it can be made of wood, he’ll build it if it can’t, he’ll still probably figure it out) – caught up on farm happenings over the last 12 months (so. Much. TALKING! ), shared laughs over mango daiquiris (oooh! Who wants the recipe??) and within 2 seconds of walking in the door of the homestead, I completely took over the kitchen.
I can’t help it. I partially did it under the guise of, “Oh, let me help you; you’re so busy with packing the mangoes!” However, I’m just ridiculously overexcited about the bounty of fresh farm produce I get to use on a whim. “Oh, I need limes! Do we have limes?” “What herbs are there? Lemongrass? You grow lemongrass? ?” “Hmm. So for dinner, I need green mangoes for a salad, almost overripe ones for the mango ice cream, and perfect ripe ones for dessert.”
Next week, I’ll be sharing all the tales from my visit. Including how I brought a giant suitcase that was mostly filled with food, including these Spinach Ricotta Rolls. Really. Who does that, right? Mad foodies. Don’t you believe me? Hopefully, one of the Groves will comment on what they thought of these roles.
The filling for these Spinach Ricotta Rolls is slightly different from what I use for my Spinach Ricotta Puffs and things like Cannelloni (woah, how have I not shared a recipe for Cannelloni yet? ), Lasagne (and again, no recipe yet??) and Spinach Ricotta Rotolo. The reason is that the filling ratio to the buttery puff pastry is higher than the puff, and there is no sauce like with Cannelloni. So the filling needs to have more flavor and be slightly juicer.
While you can make this with fresh spinach, I find it super easy to use frozen because I buy into the whole “snap frozen” thing. I applaud you if you use fresh, and I’ve included notes in the recipe for how to do so.
Ingredients
FILLING
- # 250 g / 8 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed (Note 1)
- ▢ 400 g / 13 oz firm ricotta (Note 2)
- ▢ 3/4 cup grated parmesan
- ▢ 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, tasty, Monterey Jack, Gruyere, Pepper Jack)
- ▢ One egg
- ▢ One large garlic clove, minced
- ▢ Pinch of nutmeg (fresh grated or powder)
- ▢ 1/4 – 1/2 tsp salt
- ▢ Black pepper
ROLLS
- ▢ Three sheets of puff pastry (Note 3)
- ▢ One egg , beaten
- ▢ Sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Take the pastry out of the freezer.
- Place spinach in a colander and press out excess water with a wooden spoon or your hands. You could also do this using a tea towel or paper towels. Transfer spinach to a bowl (drink the liquid, it’s good for you! ).
- Add remaining Filling ingredients. Mix to combine.
- Place pastry on a work surface and cut it in half to create two rectangles – you should have 6.
- Divide filling between pastries, brush the edge with egg, then roll up, finishing with the seam side down.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Spray 2 x baking trays with oil (any).
- Cut rolls into 4, or whatever size you want. Brush tops with egg (makes it golden), then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then take out the top tray, move the bottom tray to the top, and give it another 5 – 10 minutes to make it golden.
- Best served warm – the pastry is crispier, and the filling is juicier. See notes for make-ahead instructions.