Pastry snails with basil pesto, Grana Padano and pine nuts

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This savoury pastry recipe is simple to make, but the resulting flavours are deeply savoury and very delicious. A combination of basil pesto, Grana Padano and crunchy pine nuts means these are a guaranteed hit whenever you're entertaining.

First published in 2019

A crowd-pleaser that’s also extremely easy to make, these basil-pesto-flavoured puff pastry snails are punctuated with crunchy pine nuts and sprinkled with Grana Padano for extra savouriness. Excellent for dinner parties, picnics and buffet spreads.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Basil pesto

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside
2
Place all the ingredients for the pesto, minus the oil, in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times to start breaking them apart. Start to blend at a medium speed and add the oil in a thin stream until you have a smooth, silky pesto. You might have to scrape the sides of the food processor a couple of times as you go
3
Roll out the puff pastry dough onto the lined baking sheet. Evenly spread the pesto on top, leaving a 2cm gap along the bottom. Sprinkle with the grated Grana Padano and the toasted pine nuts
4
Roll the puff pastry tightly and seal the edge, pressing lightly. Cut the roll into about 20 slices
5
Arrange the slices onto the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until deeply golden and puffed up. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack. Serve within a few hours

Valeria Necchio is an Italian food writer and photographer with roots in the Venetian countryside.

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