Spinach “Ricotta” Rolls

Hey, my little chickpeas! Sorry for not posting here for a while, but I’m having way too much fun over on Youtube! I can only do so much in a day, so creating art is what I choose more often than not.

Anyway, we are here, in Florida, hunkered down as we get high winds and rains from Hurricane Ian. It’s like a winter’s day here today, so I thought I’d share a recipe I made a few days ago. It’s from Nagi over at Recipe Tin Eats, but I made mine dairy free by making my own “ricotta” from almond meal. The dairy-free ricotta recipe is here.

Ingredients:

Puff pastry, two in a box. (I used Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry.) You will use both sheets. ** These are not gluten-free but are dairy free. (Because my diet is so limited, I do eat gluten occasionally because I’m not allergic to it or a Celiac. I do however steer clear of dairy at all costs!)

For the filling:

1 – 8 ounce frozen spinach, dethawed and drained.

13 ounces — ricotta, regular or dairy free.

3/4 cup — grated parmesan

1 and 1/2 cups — any, (I used shredded cheddar cheese.)

1 egg, for the filling, only if you are using regular ricotta cheese, OMIT the egg if making dairy-free ricotta. You will need 1 egg mixed with water for a wash to brush onto the rolls prior to baking.

1 clove garlic, minced

Pinch of nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

For the topping of each roll:

1 egg, whisked with a tsp of water

Sesame seeds

Directions:

Remove the spinach and puff pastry from the freezer and allow it to thaw.

Once unthawed, drain the spinach in a colander and press out the remaining water by pressing it with a spoon.

Add the spinach to your ricotta, and add your cheeses, garlic, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Mix well.

On a cutting board, roll out the thawed puff pastry and cut it into rectangle shapes.

Add to the lower bottom half of the pastry the ricotta mixture, and divide evenly between all four rectangles you will get.

Beat one egg with a bit of water, get a basting brush

Brush the top half of the puff pastry with egg wash

Roll the bottom of the puff pastry up to the other edge and seal

Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes while you make the other two rolls

Repeat the steps above by first cutting into rectangles and filling, brushing with egg and rolling up. Also, place these in the frig for 15 minutes to firm up.

Once 15 minutes is up, remove from refrigerator and cut into even pieces. Each roll yields three rolls.

Baste each with the rest of the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake at 350 degrees on a greased baking sheet for 30 minutes.

Serve warm.

Yields: 12 rolls

*** We ate these for three days and warmed them up in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes and they were perfect. I served them with a side of edamame one day, noodle soup the next, and potatoes the next.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!