Puff pastry pinwheels filled with green pesto, grated Cheddar, Grana Padano and mozzarella. A tasty vegetarian appetiser or picnic food that’s flaky and full of flavour!

Puff pastry pinwheels are an easy appetiser, lunchbox filler and picnic-friendly savoury.

I recently had a jar of leftover pesto from another dish I made for dinner. I didn’t want the leftover pesto sitting in the fridge and me forgetting to use it up, so I decided to make a recipe inspired by these Cheese and Mustard Puff Pastry Pinwheels.

I recommend homemade pesto over ready-made, so if you have more time, you can use homemade pesto. I have a wonderful Pesto alla Genovese (Fresh Basil Pesto) recipe you could use!

Pesto is fabulous in all sorts of savoury dishes. Drizzled over a focaccia, pizza or stirred through pasta. My Pesto Pasta Salad (Marks & Spencer Copycat Recipe) has been especially popular on the blog this year and great eaten in the summer heat!

My go-to homemade pesto recipe from June 2015

What I love most about recipes like this one is the ease, and it uses easily assessable ingredients too. They look super impressive for a bake so easy!

Ingredients To Make Pesto Cheese Pinwheels

Puff Pastry – I use a ready rolled puff pastry sheet weighing 320g. Leave the pastry sheet as instructed at room temperature for 10 minutes before removing from the packaging and unrolling.

Green Pesto (Pesto alla Genovese) – I’ve used a jar of ready-made green pesto. Red pesto will also work really well, so use whichever pesto you enjoy the most.

Cheese Blend – I used a grated Cheddar and mozzarella blend and I also added some grated Grana Padano.

Black Pepper – Before rolling, I season generously with black pepper. This is optional.

These pastry pinwheels are vegetarian and additional flavours/ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes or chopped olives can also be added. If you’re a meat eater, you can add a couple of slices of Parma ham or prosciutto.

Family, friends, and whoever you choose to share these with, will thoroughly enjoy them. You’ll definitely be asked for the recipe!

Pesto Cheese Pinwheels

Puff pastry pinwheels filled with green pesto, grated Cheddar, Grana Padano and mozzarella. A tasty vegetarian appetiser or picnic food that's flaky and filled with flavourful pesto and cheese!

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Servings 24

Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

320 g pack ready rolled puff pastry
2-3 tablespoons pesto I use green pesto but red pesto also works
100 g Cheddar and mozzarella blend grated
25 g Grana Padano grated
black pepper to season

Instructions

Take your puff pastry from the fridge and allow it 10 minutes to sit at room temperature as the packet instructs. After 10 minutes, unroll the pastry. Spread the pesto evenly across the sheet of puff pastry, top with the grated cheese and season well with black pepper, if desired.
Starting at the long end of the pastry, tightly roll the pastry. Cover and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes - this makes slicing easier.
Once you're ready to bake the pinwheels, preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C Fan / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
Take a serrated knife, trim the edges and slice the pastry roll into 1cm pieces and distribute evenly between the baking trays. The recipe makes approx. 22-24 pinwheels. (At this point you can freeze the (unbaked) pinwheels for up to one month.)
Bake the pinwheels for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. They can be eaten both hot and cold, store the pinwheels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.