These little parsley and pine nut ricotta pastries would be perfect served as a light lunch or starter at your next party.
You may remember my sweet jam filled ricotta pastries? These are a savoury take on them with a no cook filling of parsley, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic and baby bocconcini.
The pastry is made using ricotta and it is fool-proof – so give it a go! You could make them with store-bought puff pastry if you like though.
The recipe makes about 32 pasties and even though the sweet version differs slightly, you could use this pastry recipe to make a few sweet ones. Just add a tablespoon of jam instead of the savoury filling.
Parsley and Pine Nut Ricotta Pastries
Ingredients
For the ricotta pastry
- 200 grams (7oz) butter softened (not melted)
- 300 grams (10 1/2oz) ricotta
- 300 grams (2 x 250ml cups) plain all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
For the parsley and pine nut filling
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup parsley (loosely packed) finely chopped
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (loosely packed) finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 10 approx baby (cherry) bocconcini torn
Instructions
- Add the butter and ricotta to a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the sifted flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Tip out onto a bench and knead together with your hands until the mixture comes together into a soft ball of pastry. (If not wanting to do it by hand, I have made this recipe in my Kitchenaid with a dough hook attached, it works out perfectly)Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Make the filling below while you wait.
- Pre-heat oven to 180 C/350 F. Roll out pastry with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, to a thickness of about 3mm, and cut into 10cm (4inch) squares.
- Put a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle of each square and a couple of piece of the torn bocconcini. Pinch the opposite ends together with a little water.
- Line an oven tray with baking paper and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm
For the filling
- Dry fry the pine nuts in a frying pan until golden brown.
- Combine the remaining ingredients (excluding the bocconcini) and stir to combine. Add the pine nuts while still hot and mix to combine.
If you make my parsley and pine nut ricotta pastries, be sure to take a picture and upload to Instagram with the hashtag #littlebigh so I can check out your creation. xx
WOW these pastries look amazing! I love how beautifully you shaped them – simply delicious!
wow! Look at these cute little pine pastries! They are so cheesy and so tempting!
I love the shape of these pastries.. So so inviting!
These look lovely and they would be perfect for taking to a picnic. Love anything with parsley.
These look incredible! I am loving the flavors and they seem pretty easy to make. Great recipe!