Ricotta & Sun-Dried Tomato Puff Pastry Bites

Ricotta & Sun-Dried Tomato Puff Pastry Bites will be your new favorite party appetizer. Perfectly petite, these bites have a buttery crunch from the puff pastry and a creamy sun-dried tomato and basil filling that is an antioxidant-filled festive flavor bomb. We used whole-milk ricotta for a protein-rich, satisfying bite, and salty Parmesan cheese to add rich umami. Keep reading for our expert tips, including how to press the puff pastry into the muffin cups so you have maximal room for your filling. 

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too! 

• Try using the smooth end of a cocktail muddler to press the puff pastry into the mini muffin cups—it’s the perfect diameter. Dip it in flour to avoid sticking.
• Instead of making small bites, you can use the filling to make a tart with a whole sheet of puff pastry. This filling would also be great in ravioli or lasagna.
• You can use sun-dried tomato pesto instead of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and basil.
• If your ricotta is very wet, strain it for a few minutes to eliminate excess liquid that might make your puff pastry soggy.

Nutrition Notes

• Creamy whole-milk ricotta cheese is the perfect base for this filling. Packed with protein to build muscle, it is also rich in calcium to maintain strong bones. To top it off, you get all of the same essential nutrients that you find in dairy milk, such as potassium and magnesium, to keep your heart in great shape. 
• Sun-dried tomatoes contain an antioxidant called lycopene, which is important to help protect your heart from damage. Sun-dried tomatoes also have potassium, which helps to clear extra sodium out of your body to help maintain healthy blood pressure—so that’s a double win for heart health. 
• Parmesan cheese is a hard, aged cheese that gives off a salty, umami flavor. Hard cheeses, like Parmesan, typically have more calcium and are lower in lactose than soft, or semi-soft cheeses, and they offer protein and vitamin B12. Parmesan cheese is slightly higher in sodium than other cheese, so if you’re watching your sodium intake, stick with the recommended serving size for the recipe. If you're following a vegetarian diet, be sure to select a vegetarian Parmesan cheese.