Puff Pastry Tarts with Potatoes & Ricotta
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At the time of sharing this, Christmas is just ten days away! I love feeling the holiday love and joy early on! Perhaps to some of you ten days out of Christmas is actually quite late, but I’ve had my tree up since American Thanksgiving!
I’ve received comments multiple times on my social media platforms that appetizers are a personal pain for many folks. When you’re so tired from putting your all into the main dish and the dessert, you just don’t tend to have the energy for appetizers!
However, no need to opt for the frozen appetizers anymore! I’m always a proponent of using what you have on hand, so if you’ve got some frozen butter puff pastry in the freezer and a few other staple ingredients, then you’re ready to assemble and bake! Enjoy the holidays hassle-free with these Ricotta & Potato Puff Pastry Tarts and truly take this time to put your heart on a plate by making this recipe as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! You can get started on your cooking journey for free any time by signing up to my email newsletter, plus all of my latest recipes will be sent straight to your inbox!
Don’t forget to watch the video at the bottom of this post to follow along with how to assemble our incredible Potato & Ricotta Puff Pastry Tarts! It would mean a lot to me if you would please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already, and be sure to press the bell button so you’re notified when all of my video recipes go live to go hand-in-hand with the written ones! Let’s get baking!
Equipment Needed For Potatoes & Ricotta Puff Pastry Tarts
Ingredients for Potato & Ricotta Tarts
Scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD or press the “Jump to Recipe” button in order to see the full ingredient list and their quantities and to save the recipe for later. You can also scale the recipe based on how many tarts you want to make, and you’ll know exactly how much of the ingredients you’ll need! By default, this recipe makes one tart that makes six slices.
Frozen puff pastry: Not many people make their own puff pastry from scratch because it is just EXTREMELY tedious! I’ve never done it before and I don’t think I ever will! Of course you can make your own if you really want to, but otherwise simply thaw the frozen puff pastry from the store overnight or at least 4-6 hours prior to making your tarts.
Potatoes: I used russet potatoes for this recipe because that’s what I had on hand. I think most potatoes would be just fine here, but I like how the russet potatoes got really crispy!
Ricotta: Use traditional ricotta or extra smooth ricotta cheese if desired! If you’re very ambitious, try making your own ricotta cheese! It’s quite quick and easy, actually!
Sage and rosemary: Fresh herbs for our topping. As I describe in my free motivational guide to be creative in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, if you’ve got ingredients that will spoil and they make a suitable substitute, then use those first before going out to buy something new! In this case, you can experiment with lots of different fresh herbs, such as chives, thyme, or dill.
Maple syrup: For a touch of sweetness to highlight the ricotta.
Garlic cloves: Minced. We will use this garlic to make garlic utter, which we will apply over the puff pastry crust and for topping.
Lime juice: Adds some acidity to the sweet ricotta and the spicy potatoes.
Spices: Cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder. These will be used to season the potatoes and add some heat.
Salt and pepper: Essential seasoning for the ricotta cheese.
Butter: Unsalted butter to make garlic butter, as described above.
How to Make Puff Pastry Tarts
Defrost the puff pastry for 4-6 hours in the refrigerator until it has softened.
Preheat the oven to 400 F or 375 F if using the convection setting.
Use a spiralizer and the flat blade attachment to thinly slice the potato. Alternatively, you can use a mandoline or a knife to thinly slice instead.
Season with garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne and add 1 Tbsp of molten butter. Massage the spices well.
In a bowl, add the ricotta, maple syrup and lime juice. Mix well and set aside for now.
Take the remaining 1 Tbsp of butter and add the minced garlic along with the butter to a bowl. Microwave to melt the butter.
Chop the fresh herbs and set aside for now.
Place a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet and roll out the pastry over the baking sheet. Spread the ricotta mixture over the puff pastry leaving a generous 1 to 1 1/2 inch gap around the edges. Sprinkle some of the freshly chopped herbs over the ricotta and then add the potatoes over the ricotta, make sure not to have multiple layers of potatoes overlapping each other.
Fold the edges of the puff pastry all around and then season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Brush the garlic butter from earlier around edge of the pastry and sprinkle the rest over the potatoes and add more freshly chopped herbs.
Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked with some crispy edges and the pastry is golden brown.
Let the tart cool down for 10-15 minutes before serving. Then, cut into 6 slices.
Enjoy!
Tips & Tricks For an Incredible Holiday Puff Pastry Tart
To chop the sage, stack the leaves with from biggest at the bottom the smallest at the top. Roll tight and then slice away.
For rosemary, you only need to pluck and chop the leaves. The stalk can be used to make a homemade broth or discarded.
Puff pastry is the most delicious when it’s slightly warm but not hot so let the tart cool down before serving. The best way to slice the flaky edges is to use a serrated knife and then slicing the rest of the pie using a pizza wheel.
Take the tart to the next level by layering mozzarella or cheddar over the ricotta and then adding the potatoes for a cheesy richness.
Can you make Puff Pastry Tarts in Advance?
Of course! This is another reason to make these incredibly easy and tasty Puff Pastry Tarts with Potatoes & Ricotta! It’s always ideal when you can prepare the appetizer in advance for a special Christmas dinner so that you have the time to really put your heart into the main dish, and perhaps even the dessert!
How to Store Potato & Ricotta Tarts
Since we only have some cheese in this recipe, depending on how fresh your ricotta was when preparing your Potato & Ricotta Tarts, you can keep these in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week.
To reheat these tarts, simply preheat the oven to 350 F. Then, reheat for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the puff pastry is hot and the potatoes are crispy.
More Puff Pastry Appetizers!
Watch how to make Puff Pastry Tarts with Potatoes & Ricotta here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!