Spinach and Ricotta Rolls

Looking for inspiration for your lunch box or a tasty snack? These lovely spinach and ricotta rolls can be baked the night before and kept in the fridge for a further 2 days or kept in the freezer (pre-baked) and cooked from frozen.

Method

1. Rinse the spinach well and cook it in a large saucepan until the leaves are wilted. Frozen spinach can also be used, just defrost and squeeze out the excess water.
2. Remove from heat, drain and cool slightly. Press firmly to remove excess water, then chop finely.
3. In a small pan, cook the onion until it’s soft and translucent.
4. Stir in the chopped spinach and cook until all the liquid has evaporated.
5. Add the ricotta, continue to stir over heat until the spinach and ricotta are combined.
6. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow it to cool slightly.
7. Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.
8. To make the rolls, lay out your sheet of pastry, cutting in half lengthways to make 2 separate strips of pastry. You should now have 4 halves of pastry if using 2 sheets of puff pastry.
9. Spoon 1/4 of the spinach mixture onto the middle of each pastry, brush around the edges of the pastry with egg wash which helps it bind and prevent the mixture spilling out.
10. Roll down one end of the pastry to meet the other side, using a fork press down around the edges to seal the pastry together.
11. Cut each roll into 6 even pieces with a clean knife (you should now have 24 rolls).
12. Carefully place rolls onto a lined baking tray, allowing space in between so they don’t stick together whilst baking, brush with more egg wash and a small sprinkle of parmesan.
13. Rest in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow the pastry to seal itself (at this point the rolls can be placed in the freezer if saving for a later date).
14. Bake the spinach and ricotta rolls at 200ºC/ 180ºC/ gas mark 4 for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.