Juicy, cheesy spinach and ricotta filling enclosed in buttery, flaky puff pastry. These Spinach and Ricotta Rolls are great 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 in the midst of mango harvesting at the Groves’ Tropical orchard!!! Long time readers may remember that I visited this very same farm in early 2016. This City Gal turned Northern Beaches Gal Wanna-Be-Country-Gal swept into Yeppoon, armed with cameras and all manner of gadgets, ready to get stuck into the farm life. Turned up dressed completely inappropriately (who wears a sparkly clean WHITE TOP to a farm??) and as it so happens, I just missed the harvesting season. The mango trees were bare, with just a few late bloomers remaining.
But this year, I’m here to witness the action!!! YEE HA!
I arrived yesterday, 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.
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!”, but really, I’m just ridiculously overexcited about the bounty of fresh farm produce that 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 which was mostly filled with food, including these Spinach Ricotta Rolls. Really. I know, who does that, right? Mad foodies. You don’t believe me? Hopefully one of the Groves will leave a testimonial on what they thought of these rolls. 🙂
The filling for these Spinach Ricotta Rolls is slightly different to what I use for my Spinach Ricotta Puffs and things like Cannelloni (woah, how have I not shared a recipe for Canelloni yet?), Lasagne (and again, no recipe yet??) and Spinach Ricotta Rotolo. The reason is because the ratio of filling to the buttery puff pastry is higher than the Puffs, and there is no sauce like with Cannelloni. So (I personally feel) the filling needs to have more flavour and be slightly juicer.
While you can make this with fresh spinach, I find it super easy to use frozen because I totally 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.
Happy weekend everyone! – Nagi xx
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Spinach Ricotta Rolls
Ingredients
Filling
- 250 g / 8 oz frozen chopped spinach , thawed (Note 1)
- 400 g / 13 oz firm ricotta (Note 2)
- ¾ cup grated parmesan
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheese (cheddar, tasty, Monterey Jack, Gruyere, Pepper Jack)
- 1 egg
- 1 large garlic clove , minced
- Pinch of nutmeg (fresh grated or powder)
- ¼ - ½ tsp salt
- Black pepper
Rolls
- 3 sheets puff pastry (Note 3)
- 1 egg , beaten
- Sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Take pastry out of freezer.
- Place spinach in a colander and use a wooden spoon or your hands to press out excess water. 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 work surface and cut in half to create 2 rectangles – you should have 6 in total.
- Divide filling between pastries, brush 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 and move the bottom tray to the top and give it an additional 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.
Recipe Notes:
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WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Spinach and Ricotta Rolls recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
When I travel, Dozer stays with a golden retriever boarder. Basically, he’s having a holiday too. He has so much fun that I fear the day that I go to pick him up and he refuses to come with me….!!
patricia reller says
If frozen do you cut before you freeze or after they defrost or after they are cooked? Thank you
patricia reller says
Hi I made these yesterday for a party in a week. I froze them in the roll my questions are these”
should I have cut them first and then froze them
should I defrost then cut and cook puff pastry gets so sticky after it is defrosted
Should I cook as a roll then cut them???
Thank you so much they are for a fancy special event that I am catering
Phill says
you made me feel like a professional with this recipe; they were awesome. Thank you!
Nagi says
Love hearing that Phill! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Mel says
Hi Nagi, do you think this recipe would work with cream cheese instead of ricotta?
Jennifer Vanzella says
I made these & they are delicious & so easy, my son loved them, making them again this week. Thanks for recipe.
Jenny says
These spinach and ricotta rolls were delicious! Thank you for your clear instructions because I’m no cook. I’ve frozen some so I’ll see how they go.
Nagi says
That’s terrific! So pleased you enjoyed this Jenny – N x
Cheryl says
Love the way your recipes are so easy to follow. I’ve made these rolls twice now. Such a hit with everyone. Just delicious!
Nagi says
So glad you enjoyed this Cheryl! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂 Have a great weekend! N x
Jax says
Im absolutely addicted to this filling!…I make these about twice a month. SOOO good. So there’s no doubt I’ve made your cannelloni too 😆 Thank you!!
Kellie Bright says
I’ve got people coming round 10am Saturday morning, and wondered if I was to make the night before would it be best to cook and freeze? Or cook and store in an airtight container then reheat in the morning? Or make and keep them raw overnight in the fridge? Just trying to save myself some time!
Nagi says
Hi Kellie! Easiest is to cook then refrigerate then reheat 🙂 Puff pastry is so buttery it reheats brilliantly 🙂 N xx
Alli says
These are amazing!! So easy to make as well. My sister, who seriously doubts my cooking abilities was shocked that I had made them and not store bought 😉
Thank you for a wonderful recipe
Jess says
Making this for the first time, they are sitting in the fridge ready for me to go pop in the oven in a few mins! I tasted the filling by itself and it is beautiful, can’t wait to try it cooked!
Great way to make use of my spinach plant! Thanks 🙂
Nagi says
Hope you loved it Jess! N x
Ragan says
Making this recipe a for second time now. These are the BEST spinach and ricotta rolls I’ve ever had 🙂
Thank you for this dead simple and delicious recipe!
Nagi says
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoy these as much as I do! N xx
Amelia says
I made these to use up an excess of baby spinach. I get a box of market-fresh produce delivered every week and there’s almost always a big bag of baby spinach, which I struggle to use up because I reach salad saturation point pretty quickly, and nobody in the house likes cooked spinach. But (surprise surprise) 3 cheeses + pastry + tomato sauce does wonders to make it more palatable! Delicious, even! My 3 year old, usually quite wary of green foods, helped me make it and enthusiastically ate it.
Nagi says
Ba ha ha!!! It’s like the ultimate way to hide spinach!!! So glad everyone loved this – N x