Olive Leaf Pastries with Pesto and Ricotta

Olive leaf pastries with pesto and ricotta are a delicious and tasty appetizer. Here is how to prepare them.

Ingredients

• 200 g of rectangular puff pastry
• 150 g of fresh ricotta
• 100 g of pitted green olives
• 2 tablespoons of Genoese pesto
• Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
• Salt, as needed
• Pepper, as needed

Preparation

1. Roll out the puff pastry on a work surface and cut it into squares or rectangles of equal size.
2. Finely chop the green olives and mix them with the ricotta, adding a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spread a thin layer of this mixture on one half of each puff pastry square.
4. Add a teaspoon of Genoese pesto on top of the ricotta on each square.
5. Fold each square in half to cover the filling and seal the edges well, pressing them with a fork.
6. Place the filled pastries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brush the surface with a little extra virgin olive oil.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 15-20 minutes, or until you see the pastries turn golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack before serving.

If you wish to make the dish even richer in Italian style, you could add some grated Parmesan cheese or a few leaves of fresh basil on top of the pastries as soon as they come out of the oven.

Trivia

Genoese pesto is a traditional Ligurian sauce perfectly suited to fresh and light dressings. The combination with ricotta adds creaminess to the well-known contrast between the fresh and bold flavors of the pesto and the sweet and delicate taste of the olives.