Ricotta Crescent Puffs Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, unfold puff pastry. Cut each sheet into nine squares. Mix ricotta cheese, red peppers, 2 tablespoons Romano cheese, parsley, oregano and pepper., Brush pastry edges with milk; place 2 rounded teaspoonfuls of cheese mixture in center of each square. Fold edges of pastry over filling, forming a rectangle; seal edges with a fork. Cut slits in pastry; brush with milk. Sprinkle with remaining Romano cheese., Place 2 in. apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove to wire racks. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat and saute onions until soft and translucent. Add spinach, salt, and pepper and briefly saute while stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes.. Cover and cook until spinach is wilted, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove lid after 5 minutes and allow cooking liquid to evaporate. Remove from stove and cool completely.
• Chop spinach mixture and combine with ricotta and Parmesan cheese in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
• Roll out puff pastry sheet and evenly cover with spinach-cheese mixture to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Tightly roll up sheet lengthwise and press edges tightly together. Wrap in plastic wrap and cool in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Slice pastry log into 3/4-inch slices so you have 16 to 22 pinwheels. Lay puff pastry pinwheels in the shape of a Christmas tree. The lowest row should consist of 6 pinwheels the second row 5 pinwheels, etc. If you end up with 16 pinwheels, start with 5 pinwheels in the lowest row. Place the last wheel on the bottom to make the stem. Brush with egg.
• Bake in preheated oven until wheels are lightly browned and puffed up, 20 to 25 minutes. Decorate with cherry tomatoes for Christmas tree ornaments.

Steps:

• Spoon the ricotta into a large, fine-mesh sieve or a colander lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth or basket-type coffee filter. Set the sieve over a bowl, and cover the ricotta well with plastic wrap. Drain in the refrigerator at least overnight, or up to 24 hours. Discard the liquid in the bottom of the bowl.
• Process the drained ricotta and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade until creamy. Pour in the Grand Marnier and process until incorporated. Scrape the ricotta mixture into a bowl and stir in the candied fruits and chocolate chips. Store in the refrigerator, covered, until needed, up to 2 days.
• Bring the water, butter, granulated sugar, and salt to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Add the flour all at once, and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon over medium heat until the dough leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball around the spoon. Remove from heat, and quickly beat in one egg at a time, beating until the batter is smooth after each addition. Add the orange and lemon zest, and continue beating until mixture is smooth and glossy.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy 3-quart pot until a deep-frying thermometer registers 350° F. Carefully drop rounded tablespoonfuls of the batter into the oil, about six at a time. (There should be enough room in the pot for the zeppole to float freely.) Fry, turning the zeppole as necessary, until golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes. Adjust the heat under the pot to maintain the temperature of the oil as the zeppole fry. Remove with a skimmer and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining batter, allowing the oil to return to 350° F before continuing, if necessary.
• Preheat the oven to 425° F. Drop the batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a lightly greased or nonstick baking pan. Bake until evenly and lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F, and continue baking until medium golden brown and a zeppola feels very light when picked up from the baking sheet, about 15 minutes.Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
• Cut the zeppole in half, leaving them attached on one side. Spoon the filling into the zeppole, dividing evenly. Dust the tops of the zeppole with confectioners' sugar and serve at room temperature or, if you prefer, chilled.

Steps:

• Place ricotta in a fine-mesh sieve and drain thoroughly, for approximately one hour.
• In a large bowl, beat together eggs, ricotta, sugar and liqueur. Beat for approximately 5 minutes or until mixture is smooth and thick.
• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Fold flour into eggs and cheese. Mix well. Set aside, refrigerated, to rest for about an hour.
• Over medium high heat bring oil to frying temperature. Test by tossing in a cube of white bread - if it sizzles and browns quickly, oil is ready.
• Drop egg-cheese mixture by tablespoons full into hot oil. Turn once to brown both sides. When they are puffed up and well browned, remove and drain on absorbent paper.
• When drained and cool, sprinkle puffs with powdered sugar.

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 375. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.
• 2. In small bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and whisk together with a fork. Set aside and allow to warm to room temperature.
• 3. On floured work surface, unroll 1 dough sheet; cut into 24 (2-inch) squares. Place 1 dough square in bottom and up sides of each of 24 muffin cups, letting points of dough extend over edge of cup.
• 4. In medium bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Spoon about 1 tbsp cheese mixture into each cup
• 5. Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pans 3 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough and filling, cooling pans between batches. Serve warm with dipping sauce.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a small bowl, mix the first 9 ingredients., Unroll crescent dough and separate into 4 rectangles; press perforations to seal. Spread rectangles with cheese mixture to within 1/4 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; pinch seam to seal., Using a serrated knife, cut each roll into 4 slices; place on a greased baking sheet, cut side down. Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Serve with pizza sauce.

Steps:

• 1. Combine all ingredients except for the vegetable oil.
• 2. Heat oil in a pot or deep fryer over medium heat.
• 3. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into hot oil. Flip after 1 to 2 minutes. When edges are brown flip over to brown other side for another minute.
• 4. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate covered with paper towels to drain.
• 5. Sprinkle on powdered sugar if desired.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta and eggs, and mix until smooth. Add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla. Mix again to make a smooth batter.
• Fill a wide, shallow skillet with about 3/4 inch of oil. Place over medium-high heat until a bit of batter sizzles when dropped in. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter into pan, 5 or 6 at a time. When batter puffs and undersides turn golden brown, after about 1 minute, flip kisses and allow to brown again for about 1 more minute. Transfer browned kisses to paper towels to drain, and continue until all batter is used.
• Pile kisses in a rough pyramid on a serving plate. Pass confectioners' sugar through a small fine-meshed sieve evenly over baci. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Bring milk and zest to a simmer in a small heavy saucepan, then remove from heat. Whisk together yolk, sugar, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Whisk in milk, then transfer mixture to saucepan.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, and boil 1 minute. Stir in vanilla, then transfer to a clean bowl and chill custard, its surface covered with parchment paper (to prevent a skin from forming), until cold, at least 1 hour. Discard zest.
• Pulse ricotta in a food processor until smooth. Whisk into custard. Stir in orange-flower water and citron. Chill until ready to use.
• Prepare pastry while custard chills:
• Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in cleaned food processor until combined. Add butter and zest and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Add yolks and water and pulse until just incorporated and dough begins to form large clumps.
• Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, using a pastry or bench scraper if you have one, and form into a ball.
• Generously butter muffin cups and top of pan. Press 2 tablespoon dough over bottom and up side of each muffin cup in an even layer with well-floured fingers. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, roll out remaining dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper into a 9-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and transfer to a baking sheet, discarding top sheet of paper. Cut 12 (1/2-inch-wide) strips, then cut in half crosswise to make 24 strips total. Chill until ready to use.
• Assemble and Bake pastries:
• Spoon a scant 2 tablespoons filling into each muffin cup and smooth, then crisscross 2 strips on top of filling, trimming to fit. Brush pastry cross with egg wash. Bake until filling is puffed and starting to crack and edges are golden, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Invert a rack on top of pan, then flip pan and remove. Turn pastries right side up and cool completely.