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
Coconut Shrimp / Prawns with Thai Mango Dipping Sauce
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….!!
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!
Can I use shredded mozzarella cheese?
Hi Kathy, I prefer cheddar as it has more flavour, mozzarella can be quite bland – N x
Hi, I haven’t made these yet, I have a question first.
Why do all these recipe’s ask for “frozen spinach”, why can’t one use fresh from garden, just lightly steam first??
Everyone loved them!
Hi can we use cream cheese instead of ricotta or feta?
Wahoo, thanks for letting me know Sharon!
Hi Nagi would I be able to make these substituting the ricotta with feta….no quality ricotta where I live or will it kill the recipe thanks Kym
It would be way too salty unfortunately! – N x
Hi Kym! Feta will be fine BUT you’ll need to adjust the quantities quite a bit because it’s much saltier. Reduce it down to about 300g (10oz) and use an extra 100g (3.5oz) of frozen spinach (before squeezing out liquid) PLUS and extra 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Hope that helps! N x
Pretty keen to try these out! Just wondering if you have the amounts of Parmesan and shredded cheese in grams?
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese = 180g
3/4 cup parmesan = 90g
Must try these, They look so good and simple to make. Have you ever tried using a potato ricer to squeeze the juice out of spinach? It’s magical and you don’t end up with a stained tea towel!
What a great idea!!
I’ve made these, but with egg roll wrappers. Very tasty.
It;s just two of us this Christmas and we both have a cold, so it will be stuffed shells for us, if I feel up to making them. Miss the large family dinners. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.
If frozen do you cut before you freeze or after they defrost or after they are cooked? Thank you
I cut before I freeze, then put straight in the oven from frozen. Delicious every time
Hi I made these yesterday for a party in a week. I froze them in the roll my questions are these”
should I have cut them first and then froze them
should I defrost then cut and cook puff pastry gets so sticky after it is defrosted
Should I cook as a roll then cut them???
Thank you so much they are for a fancy special event that I am catering
you made me feel like a professional with this recipe; they were awesome. Thank you!
Love hearing that Phill! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi, do you think this recipe would work with cream cheese instead of ricotta?
I made these & they are delicious & so easy, my son loved them, making them again this week. Thanks for recipe.
These spinach and ricotta rolls were delicious! Thank you for your clear instructions because I’m no cook. I’ve frozen some so I’ll see how they go.
That’s terrific! So pleased you enjoyed this Jenny – N x
Love the way your recipes are so easy to follow. I’ve made these rolls twice now. Such a hit with everyone. Just delicious!
So glad you enjoyed this Cheryl! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂 Have a great weekend! N x
Im absolutely addicted to this filling!…I make these about twice a month. SOOO good. So there’s no doubt I’ve made your cannelloni too 😆 Thank you!!