Pesto Cheese Puff Pastry Sunflower Tart/Pinwheel

Wow your guests with this 3 ingredient tart. The sunflower shape looks so pretty and is such an easy recipe to put together. I have used pesto and mozzarella cheese but you can customize it with Green chutney, sun dried tomato pesto, Nutella, cinnamon and sugar, cranberry chutney, goat cheese, pepperjack cheese. I used store bough pesto but you can also make pesto at home.

This recipe is also called Tart au Soleil  which is a french appetizer. The pastry is cut and twisted and once baked looks like a giant sun, hence the name Tart au Soleil or Sun tart. Soleil is french for sun. This recipe is originally from southern France where pesto and sunshine are both in plenty.

Make ahead and Freezing instructions-  This recipe can be assembled and frozen. Wrap the tart in parchment paper and foil and freeze. Bake at 400 F straight from the freezer. No thawing required. Start checking after 30 minutes. Bake till the puff pastry turns golden.

Pro tip- At any point if the puff pastry feels soft and sticky, put in the freezer for five minutes or the fridge for 15 minutes. Give only 2 twists to each ray. Place the edge of the pastry flat after giving the twists.

Some other recipes with puff pastry are-

Dabeli Pinwheels-make ahead and freezing instructions included

Baked Matar Kachori in Puff Pastry/Air Fried Matar kachori Pinwheel

Mexican Spirals/ Black Bean Pinwheels

Mexican 7 Layer Bean Dip

Here is the written recipe, followed by the step by step pictorial one-

Pesto Cheese Puff Pastry Sunflower Tart/ Pinwheel

Pesto and cheese along with puff pastry makes this easy yet attractive sunflower tart. With only 3 ingredients this appetizer wows with both taste and presentation.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Appetizer/Main Course, Breakfast

Cuisine American, French, Fusion

Servings 16 pieces

Equipment

• 2 baking tray preferably with out rim
• 1 Rolling Pin
• 1 Parchment
• 1 measuring cups and spoons
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 pastry brush

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 pkg Puff Pastry 490 grams/17.3 oz/1.1 lbs Pepperidge Farm Brand
• 3-4 tbsp Pesto
• 1 cup Mozzarella shredded cheese
• 1/4 tsp White Sesame Seeds
• 1/4 tsp Black Sesame Seeds
• 2 tbsp Milk or 1 beaten egg for glazing

Instructions

 

• Thaw the puff pastry as per directions on the box. I kept the box out for 35 minutes on the counter
• On parchment paper, dust some flour. Unroll the puff pastry sheets. There are 2 sheets in a box. Keep the other one in the fridge.. We will need it later
• If there are cracks on the puff pastry, take some water and bring them together. Now using a rolling pin, roll the puff pastry to a little over 10 inches. The original puff pastry measures 9 inches
• Take a 10 inch plate, put it on the puff pastry and using a sharp knife cut the puff pastry to a 10 inch circle, using the plate as a guide. Place the parchment paper with the puff pastry on a rimless baking tray
• Put it in the freezer for 5 minutes while we repeat the process for the second sheet. Now we have 2 10 inch puff pastry circles. Put the second one ,on a baking sheet back in the freezer while we assemble the tart
• Preheat the oven at 400 F /205C
• Put 3-4 tbsp of pesto leaving a 1 inch border on the side. Sprinkle the cheese evenly on the pesto.
• Place the second circle carefully over the circle that has the pesto and cheese. The edges should match up. I used a rolling pin to lift and place the puff pastry on top. Gently press down on the tart with your palms and tap the edges lightly
• For the sunflower shape-place a small cup or glass in the center and press it so it leaves an indentation. Remove cup. This is the center of the sunflower and we will use this as a guide to cut the puff pastry
• Using a sharp knife, cut the puff pastry into 4 pieces. Now divide each quadrant into half. This gives 8 pieces, Further divide each piece in half. This should give 16 pieces. If at this point your puff pastry feels soft or sticky. Put in the freezer for 5 minutes.
• Lift each piece and give 2 twists and lay the edge flat. Repeat for all 16 pieces. We only need to give 2 twists, making sure the piece stays attached to the center. Lay the edge flat so we get an even circle. If the dough feels soft, put in the freezer for 5 minutes
• Crack an egg, beat it lightly with a fork and brush all over the tart. Or brush milk all over the sunflower tart. Sprinkle some black and white sesame seeds in the center.
• Bake at 400 F for 25 minutes. I started checking at 20 minutes and kept baking till I got a nice golden color on the pastry.

Notes

Using a baking tray that has no edges, makes it easier to slide off the tart on to your serving dish. I felt that placing the puff pastry on parchment paper made it very easy to handle. Do not spread the pesto till the edge. Keep a one inch border. This can be made with just pesto and no cheese. While twisting the rays, keep a finger at the joint so that the ray does not become detached. lay down the end of the ray, flat on the tray. Brushing with milk or egg gives a nice glaze/shine to the puff pastry. 

Keyword cheesy pesto pinwheel, easy puff pastry tart, pesto cheese puff pastry pinwheel, pesto cheese sunflower tart, pesto cheese tart au soleil, tart au soleil

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Here is the step by step pictorial recipe-

Ingredients