Christmas tree in puff pastry: the recipe for an easy and quick Christmas appetizer

L’Christmas tree in puff pastry it’s a antipasti Christmas impressive, also perfect to serve as finger food for a aperitif or use as master piece for lunch on December 25 or for dinner on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Eve. Quick and easy to prepare, it only takes a few minutes and with very few ingredients: just fill the puff pastry – we opted for the ready-made, but you can also use the homemade one – as you prefer, cut it in the shape of a Christmas tree and bake it in the oven until it turns golden and crispy. To give the pastry the appearance of a real Christmas tree, it is enough to make thin strips on the sides and roll them up: these will be the branches of the tree, which the guests can easily detach and taste.

As a filling for our puff pastry tree, we used cheese spread e cooked ham finely chopped, for decoration we have chosen sliced ​​olivesreminiscent of traditional decorative balls, while pastry scraps have become tasty Use of different sizes that we used to embellish our tree.

Puff pastry can also be excellent cold prepared in advance and stored in the fridge well wrapped in transparent film, or cooked just before the guests arrive: this way the dough will be crumbly and delicious.

Discover our step-by-step recipe to make this tasty salty Christmas tree in just a few steps, ideal to accompany other delicious Christmas appetizers. Don’t miss other ways to prepare Christmas trees with puff pastry, such as the ricotta and spinach variant, the version with puff pastry swivels or the irresistible puff pastry trees to use as placeholders. Finally, if you are a lover of sweets, your festive table cannot miss the Christmas tree in puff pastry with hazelnut cream.

How to make a puff pastry Christmas tree

Start preparing the puff pastry Christmas tree by gently unrolling the first roll of pastry on a flat surface 1. We have chosen the round puff pastry, but the rectangular one will also be suitable.

Do the same with the second disk of dough and overlap it with the first. 2.

With a sharp knife, cut out the shape of a Christmas tree 3 and set the clippings aside.

Then separate the two sheets 4.

Spread half the cheese on one of the shapes 5.

Separately, finely chop the ham with a knife 6.

Spread the ham over the cheese seventaking care to make a homogeneous filling of the same thickness.

Spread the rest of the cream cheese on the second form 8.

Then overlap the sheets, taking care to seal the edges well by pressing them lightly with your fingers. 9.

Now make the branches of the tree, cutting strips about 1.5cm wide, stopping a few inches from the center ten.

Screw each strip onto itself in one motion 11so as not to break it, and make sure that the end of each branch is well closed, in order to prevent it from opening during cooking.

At this point, beat the egg 12.

And use it to brush the surface of the shaft 13.

Then decorate the central trunk with the pitted and sliced ​​olives, as if they were balls 14.

Pick up the dough scraps set aside and layer them without re-kneading them 15then roll them out with a rolling pin.

With the special cookie cutters, make a big star, which will serve as a point, and smaller stars which will be the decorations 16to arrange as you see fit.

Also brush the stars with beaten egg and garnish with sesame seeds 17. Bake at 180°C and cook for about 20 minutes, or in any case until the surface is golden brown. If the dough browns too much during cooking, cover it with aluminum foil.

The puff pastry is ready: take it out, let it cool and serve 18.

How to stuff the puff pastry tree: ideas and suggestions

In addition to the classic ham and cheese filling, you can fill the Christmas tree with puff pastry according to your tastes: you can for example choose grain, salami or mortadella and combine them with ricottasoft-paste cheese, Parmesan cheese or a string cheese like try it or smoked scamorza, avoiding mozzarella instead, which could moisten the dough too much.

For an alternative but equally tasty garnish, you can instead opt for a pâté of tuna or olives, prepare a delicate ham mousse to combine with fresh cherry tomatoes or vegetables or even a tasty gorgonzola mousse that you can garnish with slices of pear, for a gourmet Christmas.

If you want to make a vegetarian puff pastry you can stuff it with a cheese of your choice and mixed vegetables skipped, while for a vegan version you can choose a tasty aubergine cream.

Tips

For decoration, you can also use Cherry tomatoes oh shoreswhose red color immediately evokes the Christmas atmosphere.

When only the trunk remains, cut it into squares: it will become a delicious appetizer.

storage

The puff pastry tree can be stored in the refrigerator, covered with a sheet of transparent film, for approx. One day. Reheat it a few minutes before eating it, so that it becomes puffy and crunchy again.