Step up! If this year Christmas is your turn, save this recipe: the Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees Filled with Salmon, Ricotta, and Arugula are an easy and quick appetizer to prepare! Everyone will love it, from the adults to the little ones at home! Every year there’s the hassle of who cooks the Christmas Lunch and if this year it’s you, know that you’re in the perfect cooking blog to make this festive occasion unforgettable!
For years I’ve been dedicated to this holiday with immense joy to offer you easy, quick recipes that are delicious for the big ones and fun for the little ones. This year I presented the Christmas Trees with Sandwich Bread filled with Tuna Sauce, Arugula, and Ricotta, also perfect for Christmas Eve!
If you don’t want to spend too much time with cutouts and molds, you can try the Savory Christmas Tree Pie with Speck, Cherry Tomatoes, and Green Olives made with a paper mold. Then, there’s the must-have most delicious and fragrant Christmas dessert, the Christmas Tree with Hazelnut and Cinnamon Cream!
In the past years I’ve suggested Savory Christmas Trees with three different homemade creams and three small Christmas Tree Cakes with Rice Flour and Chocolate Chips in the dough, fragrant and tasty! Save these recipes, you can also save or print them so you have them handy for December 25!
Below you’ll find all the clickable links that will take you directly to the recipe you’ve chosen to read! I remind you that I’m waiting for you every morning in the group and on the Facebook fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day! The Christmas Marathon has already started to collect all the Christmas Recipes, the Christmas Eve Menus, and the Christmas Lunch!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 20 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: New Year’s Eve, Christmas
- Energy 84.71 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 6.08 (g) of which sugars 0.27 (g)
- Proteins 2.66 (g)
- Fat 5.56 (g) of which saturated 0.95 (g)of which unsaturated 4.33 (g)
- Fibers 0.26 (g)
- Sodium 147.41 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 22 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 20 Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees Crunchy Appetizer
- 1 sheet puff pastry (rectangular)
- 1 egg
- to taste mixed seeds
- 3.5 oz smoked salmon
- 1.75 oz arugula
- 1.75 oz ricotta (or other spreadable cheese of your choice)
- 1 pinch salt
Tools to Prepare Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Cookie Cutter
- 2 Baking Sheets
- 2 Parchment Paper
- 1 Oven
- 1 Knife
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 Fork
- 1 Brush
- 1 Cooling Rack
Steps for Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees Recipe
The recipe for this Christmas appetizer is really very simple, the only thing you need to watch for is the cooling time of the puff pastry after baking it in the oven. If it’s not completely cool, it will be hard to cut and will likely break. I’m telling you this because after an hour of waiting, I still managed to break three trees. Of course, the main advice I can give before starting this recipe is to choose cookie cutters that aren’t too small.
I prepared these Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees using cookie cutters that are very small. For this reason, I advise you to choose a medium-sized cutter. In the list of useful tools, I recommended a 13 cm tree cutter so you have a large enough area to fill and that it opens easily.
Let’s start this recipe. Take the rectangular puff pastry sheet from the fridge and place it on the work surface while still rolled up but out of the plastic packaging. Meanwhile, keep a small bowl nearby where you will break the egg. Get the mixed seeds ready and turn on the oven. Set it to 392°F (200°C) on static mode and wait for it to reach the right temperature.
Place nearby the Christmas tree cookie cutter or whatever shape you’ve chosen to create this filled Christmas appetizer. Also, grab the kitchen brush that will be used to brush the puff pastry surface. You’ll also need parchment paper sheets. In the list of tools, I’ve included the link to purchase the pre-cut parchment paper I use for my recipes which I find extremely convenient and helps avoid waste.
Unroll the puff pastry on the work surface, and place two baking sheets close by with a parchment paper sheet in each. Cut out as many Christmas trees as possible from the pastry. Of course, it also depends on how many guests or family members you have for lunch or dinner; with this recipe, you’ll get about 20 small puff pastry trees like mine. Obviously, if the shape you choose is larger, this number will be smaller.
Transfer the trees to the baking sheets, spaced well apart. Break the egg into the small bowl and add a pinch of salt. Brush the surface of the Christmas trees with the beaten egg, sprinkle with seeds, in my case a mix of pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds. You can also sprinkle the trees with pepper or another spice if you want to give this dish a bolder touch.
Place the baking sheets with the puff pastry trees in the middle rack of the oven, even if they are rather close, one above the other, don’t worry, it won’t be a problem. Let them bake for about 20 minutes; you’ll see the puff pastry turn golden and puff up. Take them out of the oven and place the baking sheets on the work surface. Transfer the Christmas Puff Pastry Trees onto a cooling rack; don’t leave them in the baking sheets where they’ll continue receiving heat from them. Let cool for at least an hour.
After this period of time, we can cut the puff pastry diagonally where we will then place the filling for these Christmas trees. Take the salmon, arugula, and ricotta. Place everything close by on the work surface. Once the pastry is cut, gently place the filling on the base of the trees and close with the other side of the pastry. And there you have your Filled Christmas Trees ready. We are ready to serve the Christmas appetizer just prepared.
I just need to wish you a good appetite and remind you that I wait for you every morning in the group and on the fan page with the Recipe of the Day! Every day a recipe as easy, quick, and delicious as this one!
Tips and Variations:
It’s advised to prepare these savory puff pastry Christmas trees at least three hours before serving them at the table. Bear in mind that they need to be properly cooled before cutting, otherwise, you risk the puff pastry being too hot and breaking when you use the tip of the knife to cut them!
It’s also advised to fill them just before enjoying or at least not too early so that the ingredients used as filling remain fresh. You can accompany them with Hugo Spritz made at home with elderflower syrup, you can find the recipe here on my cooking blog!
As for variations, I leave you free choice, unleash your creativity to choose the fillings you like best, perhaps based on the guests you will have over for lunch or dinner. If there are intolerances or ingredients that not everyone likes! Vary and vary again, each time these Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees will be different, crunchy and tasty!
