Pesto twist pastry Christmas Tree

This is a really simple and quick to assemble recipe that looks both festive and impressive and tastes delicious. Perfect for shared nibbles or an impressive centrepiece as part of a grazing or cheese board. Serve with dips, chutneys and relishes (my favourite is this tomato chilli relish)

Total time to make : 30 - 35 minutes

Serves : 6

Ingredients

2 x sheets of puff pastry

4 tbsp pesto, red or green

90g Parmesan cheese, grated

1 egg (to egg wash)

* find puff pastry in the frozen aisles of supermarkets, defrost over night in the fridge or on the counter at room temperature for about 30 minutes until the dough is workable but not too soft. They are available in sheets or rolls or either squares or rectangles. It doesn't matter here which one you use.

Method

1. Pre-heat a fan oven to 190ºC and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
   

2. Layer one sheet of puff pastry on top of the other (keeping them on the baking sheets so they don’t stick together) and cut a 'tree shape' using a sharp blade out of the pastry. Once sliced, seperate the two tree shapes and discard the extra puff pastry - or use to cut extra stars and shapes out.
   

3. Lay the bottom tree shape on the prepared baking tray and spoon on your pesto, smoothing it out over the base.
   

4. Carefully sandwich the second Christmas tree shape of puff pasty on top. Use a sharp knife to cut the trunk and branches.
   

5. Once you've cut the branches, use your fingers to twist each branch, starting from the bottom branch of the tree (creating two or three twists) up the the top branch (one twist).

6. Once you’ve twisted all the branches, place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. This is an optional extra step - but can help keep the twists in place!

7. To make the egg wash, use a fork to whisk the egg together in a small bowl.

8. Once the pastry has chilled, use a pastry brush to cover the pastry tree with the egg wash (and any extra shapes you have).

9. Scatter over the grated Parmesan cheese and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until puffed up, golden brown and crisp to touch. Smaller pastry cut-outs will bake more quickly so use a seperate tray for these and bake for less time.

Nutritional Information

(per serve)

204 calories

11g fat, 20g carbs, 5g protein

Good to know

• Find puff pastry sheets in the fridge or freezer dessert aisle. Defrost frozen puff pastry before using. 

• Best made and eaten on the same day but leftovers can be stored for up to 3 days in the fridge.

• Use a sweet filling such as Nutella or Biscoff for a sweet tree.