This stuffed Puff Pastry With Pesto and Cheese is an elegant appetizer that’s perfect for holidays and cocktail parties. The gooey filling, made with three kinds of cheese and pesto, is rich, gooey, and perfect for dipping with crackers, sliced bread, or fresh veggies.
Our recipe uses store-bought puff pastry to keep things simple—especially during the busy holidays. If you’re looking for more puff pastry appetizer recipes, you can try these sweet Puff Pastry Cinnamon Twists or these savory Puff Pastry Cheese Twists and a Brie and Fig Jam Puff Pastry Bake too.
Baked Puff Pastry With Pesto and Cheese
Around the holidays, you really come to appreciate the recipes that require very little prep but still come across looking fancy. This is where puff pastry recipes come in. Puff pastry is the perfect blend of buttery, crisp, and light as air. And sure, if you make it from scratch, puff pastry is a lot of work. But, when you use frozen puff pastry, it couldn’t be easier!
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This stuffed puff pastry recipe combines cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese with a little pesto and garlic. Once creamy, this filling is wrapped up in a sheet of puff pastry and baked until golden brown. Voila! Easiest appetizer ever.
Serve with your favorite crackers, pretzels, fresh veggies, or sliced bread. And feel free to get creative! Try swapping out different cheeses and spices and have a little fun.
Ingredients You Will Need
- Puff Pastry – you will need 1 sheet of thawed puff pastry for this recipe. The easiest way to thaw it is to set it on a countertop at room temperature for about 30-40 minutes.
- Cream Cheese – the cream cheese needs to be soft to be able to cream with the sugar and caramel sauce. You can let it sit out at room temperature while you are thawing the puff pastry dough, or you can warm it for about 10 seconds at a time in the microwave just until soft.
- Mozzarella Cheese – the mozzarella cheese is what helps the cheese filling get a little stretchy when it’s warm!
- Parmesan Cheese – use either grated or finely shredded Parmesan cheese for the filling to give it a little extra saltiness. Gruyere would be a great substitute.
- Pesto – you can use store bought pesto or make this easy Homemade Pesto recipe.
- Garlic Powder – I like to add a little garlic powder to the filling because you can get that great garlic flavor without any pieces of garlic. It’s also a much more mild flavor than fresh garlic.
- Egg Wash – to keep the outside nice and shiny after it is baked, brush on a simple egg wash made from whole eggs and a little water.
How to Make This Stuffed Puff Pastry
- Mix the cheese and pesto filling. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, pesto, and garlic powder. Cream together until well-mixed.
- Fill the puff pastry. Unfold the thawed puff pastry sheet onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and place spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture in the center.
- Fold the puff pastry up. Gently fold each of the four corners of the puff pastry into the center, containing all the ingredients. Brush with a little water when needed to make the puff pastry stay in place, then gently fold each of the four corners in again until you’ve secured the pastry around the filling.
- Bake. Brush egg wash over the outside, then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20-24 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden brown and shiny.
- Serve warm. Once baked, remove from the oven and place the baked puff pastry on a serving dish or large plate. Serve warm with crackers, baguettes, crostini, or veggies. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
This round puff pastry is stuffed full of three kinds of cheese and is meant to be served warm so that the cheese is still gooey. But, you should let it cool for at least a few minutes before serving it so that it isn’t runny.
Yes! You can actually assemble this, wrap it well with plastic wrap, and store in the fridge overnight to bake the following day. You could also freeze this before baking it, then defrost in the fridge overnight to bake the next day.
While puff pastry is a delicious and incredibly simple way to make this dessert, you could also substitute either pie dough or even phyllo dough. They can be built the same way, but each dough needs to be handled slightly differently.
Tips for Working With Puff Pastry
- Let the puff pastry cool for about 5 minutes before serving it. If it’s straight out of the oven, the cheese filling will be runny rather than gooey (yes, there is a difference).
- Fold the corners up twice. If you skimp and try to just fold them up once, the cream cheese and caramel filling will ooze out the sides while it bakes.
- Bake with the fold-side up. If you flip this over and try to bake with the folds down, you run the risk of finding a baking sheet covered in melted and burnt cheese!
- Preheat the oven. You want to be sure that your oven has reached the correct temperature before putting the puff pastry in to bake. There are lots of thin layers of fat inside puff pastry and if the heat is too low, you risk having them leak out rather than bake up nice and crisp.
Storing and Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerator: store completely cooled pesto puff pastry in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To reheat: preheat your oven to 300 degrees F, then transfer to a baking dish and cover with foil. Warm just long enough to melt the cheese, then enjoy!
Stuffed Puff Pastry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons water
For Serving
- crackers, baguettes, crostini, or veggies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Defrost a puff pastry sheet by removing it from its packaging and laying on the countertop for about 40 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, pesto, and garlic powder. Cream together until well-mixed.
- Unfold the puff pastry onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture in the center of the puff pastry.
- Gently fold each of the four corners of the puff pastry into the center, containing all the ingredients. Brush with a little water when needed to make the puff pastry stay in place, then gently fold each of the four corners in again until you've secured the pastry around the filling.
- Beat the egg and water in a small bowl, then use a pastry brush to brush the outside of the pastry with the egg wash.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-24 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden brown and shiny.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and place the baked puff pastry on a serving dish or large plate. Serve warm with crackers, baguettes, crostini, or veggies. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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More Holiday Appetizer Recipes
- Spinach Dip Bread Ring
- Cinamon Twist Puff Pastry
- Crispy Potato Bites
- Chex Party Mix
- Fig and Prosciutto Crostini
- Brie and Fig Crostini
- Holiday Veggie Tray
- Pizza Rolls Ups
- More Easy Appetizers
- More Holiday Recipes
This baked puff pastry stuffed with pesto and Parmesan cheese is an easy and elegant appetizer for holiday entertaining, and the perfect cocktail party menu idea. It uses store bought puff pastry and the filling is made with three kinds of cheese.
Categories:
Appetizers, Cheese, Christmas, Dips, Fall Recipes, Game Day, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian, Winter Recipes,
