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
More cocktail food for parties
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Coconut Shrimp / Prawns with Thai Mango Dipping Sauce
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See all Dip Recipes, all Party Food and the Top 25 Party Foods!
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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:
SaveSaveNutrition Information:
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….!!
Hi Nagi, These sound scrumptious! Going to make for Christmas. Have you ever served with a marinara sauce?Thinking that might be a nice addition. Made your Asian chicken salad wonton appetizer for Thanksgiving, they were delicious!!
Hello Nagi
I’ve found you thanks to challenging myself to cook during the COVID lockdown
And I have to say, your recipes, your site is beyond amazing.
I’m an Aussie living in France and my French mates were blown away by the Gougeres recipe I found on recipetin eats.
You’re recipes are so interesting, easy to follow especially with the mini videos.
And I love seeing and knowing what Dozer is up to.
Nagi … You are star. Thanks for sharing your passion for cooking. You have a big fan here in foodie France.
Stay safe … And…
Keep smiling
Cameron
i made double of this recipe today and it was awesome!! i used a smooth ricotta that i found at woolies, and yes it was watery as Nagi had warned, but i still did it anyway and the filling oozed out of the puff pastry. it definitely would have looked more aesthetic with firm ricotta as recommended in the recipe, but the taste was AWESOME regardless.
I’m so glad you loved it Sharon!! N x
Hi Nagi, could you advise whether I can omit the egg (or a sub)? My daughter’s allergic but these look so scrumptious! Thanks.
Hi,
I cooked this recipe to use my abundants of Kale. It worked a treat and the family loved them.
I will cook again with Kale.
Oh that’s a great idea Natasha! N x
Hi Nagi
I make these for my girls school lunches and they love it. The only problem i am getting is that the filling seems to break through the pastry. Would you know why this is happening.
Thank you
Hi Nagi, I am finding it hard to get this type of recotta wherr I am. Could I sub with fetta?
I make my own Ricotta by bringing 2 litres of full cream milk to 90C in a pot adding 1 tsp of salt. When 90c is reached add 1/3 cup of lemon juice, turn off heat and stir for 2 minutes and then strain through cheese cloth and leave to cool and drain and excess liquid.
Love the recipe Nagi, and wondering if it’s possible to do a mushroom version?
Just make a mushroom version smh.
Hi Nagi, can I leave the egg out of this recipe or do i need to substitute it with something else?
Thank you.
Thanks again for another kitchen success! I always use your recipes and followed them to the letter. Haven’t had a fail yet😊
I bought a lot of 2% cottage cheese as it was on sale. Can this be substituted for the ricotta. I guess I would need to strain???
Hi Rebecca, it depends on how watery it is to behest, but yet, strain some of the water out and it should be ok to use. N x
Hi Nagi, so excited to try this! Just wondering how long these could be kept in the fridge and reheated without freezing – thank you!
Hi Ellen, a day or so should be fine, I prefer to freeze though to stop the pastry going sticky. N x
I always go to Nagi recipe’s. When googling new things I haven’t cooked if it’s not on recipetineats then it’s not worth doing!
Aww shucks Libby! 😍
Hi Nagi! First of all, I LOVE your recipes. What a find! The Healthy Creamy Broccoli Soup is one of our fave soups. 🙂 Regarding the spinach ricotta rolls, I’m wondering if the puff pastry should be thawed or just thawed when assembling them. Can’t wait to make them! Thanks. 🙂
my boyfriend couldn’t stop eating these rolls. Absolutely delicious.
Thank you Nagi
I’m so happy they were a hit Viktoriya! N x
Just made this and followed recipe exactly (just happened to have all the ingredients on hand). The best spinach and ricotta rolls I’ve made, by far. Will be using this as my go to recipe now. Another cracker, Nagi! I’m yet to try a recipe of yours that hasn’t worked perfectly.
These are so delicious and pretty quick to make. Next time I’ll get the firm ricotta like you recommended as mine was soft and leaked out a little, but it didn’t affect the taste.
Hi Annette, yes I prefer the firm one – I find the soft one a little grainy (but still tastes ok) – N x
These rolls are awesome! Made them today as New Year’s Day appetizer. What a hit! Made half with Gruyere and the other half with pepper jack. Both great! Thanks, Nagi, for a great recipe!
Sounds great Angie!
Hi Nagi
Is there any replacement for spinach that I can use, I have kidney issues which stops me from enjoying spinach ❤️🙏 thank u in advance
I cannot express how much I love, love, LOVE this recipe. I always make a double batch and freeze. Need a quick, healthy lunch? 20 mins in the oven and here ya go! Run out of bread? Kids love them cold in the lunch box! Dinner in a rush? Add a bit of salad and you’re a gourmet! Thank you Nagi 🙂
That’s great April!! I love emergency freezer food!
I made the filling almost to the letter but replaced the fresh garlic with powdered garlic…for the dough I used pillsbury cresent dough sheets…and they were amazing….my husband, mom and 9 yr old loved them…only thing is the dough sheets are hard to cut so I just dented them with the knife before cooking …they came apart easy after they were cooked…I loved the taste….also it was easy to make…thank you for the receipe
I’m so glad it worked out for you Brenda, sounds great!