Step up to the plate! If this year Christmas is your turn, save this recipe: the Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees stuffed with Salmon, Ricotta, and Arugula are an easy and quick appetizer to prepare! Everyone will love them, from the adults to the kids at home! Every year there’s always the story of who cooks the Christmas Lunch, and if this year it’s your turn, know that you are at the perfect cooking blog to make this festive occasion unforgettable!
For years I have dedicated myself to this holiday with immense joy to offer you easy, quick recipes that are delicious for the adults and fun for the kids. This year I presented the Christmas Trees with sandwich bread filled with tuna sauce, arugula, and ricotta, perfect also for Christmas Eve!
If you don’t want to spend too much time with cuts and molds, you can try the Savory Christmas Tree Tart with speck, cherry tomatoes, and green olives made with a paper mold. Then there’s the inevitable most delicious and fragrant Christmas dessert of all, the Christmas Tree with hazelnut and cinnamon cream!
In past years, I proposed the Savory Christmas Trees with three different homemade creams and three small Christmas Tree Cakes with rice flour and chocolate chips in the batter, fragrant and delicious! Take note of these recipes; you can also save or print them to have them on hand for December 25th!
This and all the other recipes with salmon as the main ingredient can be found collected in the special: recipes with salmon divided by categories! Appetizers, hot or cold first and second courses to enjoy throughout the year!
Below you will find all the clickable links that will take you directly to the recipe you choose to read! I remind you that I am waiting for you every morning on the Facebook group and 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, 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 crispy appetizer
- 1 roll puff pastry (rectangular)
- 1 egg
- as needed mixed seeds
- 3.5 oz smoked salmon
- 1.75 oz arugula
- 1.75 oz ricotta (or another spreadable cheese of your choice)
- 1 pinch salt
Tools to prepare the Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Cookie cutter
- 2 Baking trays
- 2 Parchment paper
- 1 Oven
- 1 Knife
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Fork
- 1 Brush
- 1 Cooling rack
Steps for the Savory Puff Pastry Christmas Trees
The recipe for this Christmas appetizer is really very simple, the only thing you need to be mindful of is the cooling time for the puff pastry after baking it in the oven. If it is not completely cool, it will be difficult to cut and prevent it from breaking. I’m telling you this because after an hour of waiting I still managed to break three trees. Obviously, the main advice I can give you before starting this recipe is to choose molds that are not too small.
I prepared these Christmas Puff Pastry Trees using cookie cutters that are very small. For this reason, I recommend choosing a medium-sized mold. In the list of useful tools I have indeed recommended a tree mold of 5 inches so that you have a large surface to stuff and that can be opened easily.
Let’s start this recipe. Take the rectangular roll of puff pastry from the refrigerator and place it on the work surface still rolled up but out of the plastic packaging. Meanwhile, position a small bowl near you where you will break the egg. Take the mix of seeds and turn on the oven. Set to 400°F on static mode and wait for it to reach the right temperature.
Place the tree cookie cutter or whatever shape you have chosen to use for creating this stuffed Christmas appetizer near you. Also, take the kitchen brush that you will use to brush the surface of the puff pastry. You will also need some parchment paper sheets. In the list of useful tools I have also left you the link to purchase the pre-cut parchment paper that I use for my recipes, which I find very convenient and avoids waste.
Unroll the puff pastry on the work surface, place two trays near you with a sheet of parchment paper in each tray. Cut out as many Christmas trees as possible from the pastry. Obviously, it also depends on how many guests or family members you will have for lunch or dinner. With this recipe, you will get about 20 small Puff Pastry Trees like mine. Of course, if the shape you choose is larger, this number will be lower.
Place the trees on the trays well spaced apart. Break the egg into the small bowl and add a pinch of salt. Then brush the surface of the Christmas trees with the beaten egg, sprinkle with some seeds, in my case mix of pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds. You can also sprinkle the trees with pepper or another spice if you want to give a more pronounced touch to this preparation.
Place the trays with the puff pastry trees in the middle of the oven. Even if they are quite close, one above the other, don’t worry, it won’t be a problem. Let bake for about 20 minutes, you will see the puff pastry become nicely golden and puffy. Remove from the oven and place the trays on the work surface. Transfer the Puff Pastry Christmas Trees to a cooling rack, do not leave them on the trays where they will continue to receive heat from them. Let cool for at least an hour.
After this interval of time, we can cut the puff pastry diagonally where we will place the filling for these Christmas trees. Take the salmon, arugula, and ricotta. Place everything near you on the work surface. Once the pastry is cut, delicately place the filling on the base of the trees and close with the other side of the pastry. And here are our stuffed Christmas Trees ready. We are ready to serve the Christmas appetizer we just prepared.
All that’s left is 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 that’s easy, quick, and delicious like this one!
Tips and variations:
I recommend preparing these savory Christmas puff pastry trees at least three hours before serving them at the table. Consider that they need to be well cooled before cutting, otherwise you risk the puff pastry still being too warm and breaking when you go to cut them with the point of the knife!
I also recommend stuffing them shortly before enjoying or at least not too early so that the ingredients you use for the filling can also be fresh. You can accompany them with homemade Hugo Spritz with elderflower syrup, find the recipe here on my cooking blog!
As for the variations, I leave you free choice, unleash your imagination to choose the fillings you like best, maybe also based on the guests you will have at lunch or dinner. If there are any intolerances or ingredients that someone doesn’t like! Vary and vary again, each time these Savory Puff Pastry Stuffed Christmas Trees will be different, crispy and tasty!
As for the variations, I leave you free choice, unleash your imagination to choose the fillings you like best, maybe also based on the guests you will have at lunch or dinner. If there are any intolerances or ingredients that someone doesn’t like! Vary and vary again, each time these Savory Puff Pastry Stuffed Christmas Trees will be different, crispy and tasty!
