The puff pastry star with ricotta and spinach is an idea as easy as it is spectacular to bring to your table as an appetizer during the Christmas holidays; perfect for New Year’s Eve too!

It takes no more than ten minutes to prepare and, of course, it can be stuffed as you like.

Below you will find, along with the description of the steps, also the photos and the complete video, to guide you in the preparation, which is really very simple.

You might also be interested in these other super spectacular Christmas ideas of mine:

Difficulty: Very Easy
Cost: Economical
Preparation time: 20 Minutes
Portions: 12
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Christmas, New Year's Eve

Tools

Baking Tray 13.8×13.8 inches
Pizza Cutter pizza wheel

Steps to make the PUFF PASTRY STAR

First, take care of the frozen spinach: in a non-stick pot, pour a drizzle of oil, add a clove of garlic, and let it sauté for a few seconds.
Add the spinach still frozen, the salt, and a dash of water, then cook stirring often, until the spinach is completely thawed and the cooking water is fully absorbed.
Remove the garlic and let it cool, then pour the spinach into a mixer with the ricotta and blend until you obtain a cream.
Roll out the first roll of puff pastry directly onto the oven tray, distribute the ricotta and spinach cream evenly, leaving a one-inch margin from the edge of the pastry.
Overlap the second roll of puff pastry and press lightly along the edges with your fingers to seal the two pastries together a little.
With the help of a cup, draw a central circle and from the circumference of this, start making incisions with a pizza cutter wheel or with a smooth blade knife.
For the incisions, it’s much easier to do than to say, so I recommend watching the short video or the photo I put below.
Once the incisions are made, take one triangle at a time and roll it on itself. Each ‘point’ of the puff pastry star will be composed of two triangles rolled on themselves, one rolled turning to the right and one rolled turning to the left.
You will need to make five points (see photo).
Once the star is created, brush it with a beaten egg yolk mixed with a dash of milk, being careful not to get the brush on the spinach cream.
Place half a cherry tomato on each point, previously seasoned with oil and salt.
Finish decorating with sesame seeds and poppy seeds, optional of course.
Bake the puff pastry star in a preheated static oven on the middle rack at 356°F for about 45 minutes.
Note: towards the end of cooking, even though the pastry may seem cooked because it’s nicely golden, cover with aluminum foil and cook for the time I indicated, otherwise, you risk the pastry being still raw inside.
And here it is, your puff pastry star in all its beauty and deliciousness!
Before transferring it from the tray to the table, wait for it to cool very well, so you do not risk breaking it.