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Pesto Puff Pastry Pinwheels with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Red Peppers are elegant appetizers that’ll impress your guests.

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Party appetizers
This is a perfect recipe for stress-free entertaining. And these pinwheels are perfect year-round. Summer pool party, gotcha covered. New year’s eve bash, right there with ya. Spring birthday party, yep. Entertaining family during the holidays, great.
These roll ups or pinwheels are so easy to make, and so impressive looking and tasting.
After work snacks
These also make a great light lunch or after work or school snack.
Creating this recipe
This recipe started out because I wanted to use up some of the stuff in my fridge. I had some beautiful puff pastry, and that’s a great start for so many appetizers.
There’s almost always a jar of pesto in the fridge or the freezer or sometimes the cupboard.
I always keep a jar or roasted red peppers around. And, I happened to have some sun-dried tomatoes in the back of the fridge.
Pair all that with some yummy Parmesan cheese, and we have a winner.
I made this for my husband, and he loved it. He insisted that I put it on the blog. So, I decided to remake them and take their picture another day. After we ate all of the first batch!
Perfect Italian Mediterranean party snack foods
These are super easy to make pinwheel appetizers with basil pesto, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.
All wrapped up in flaky buttery puff pastry, and baked until the cheese and crust are golden brown.
These are perfect Italian Mediterranean party snack foods.
These tempting appetizers look like they’re difficult to make, but they’re not.
Make ahead
You can assemble the puff pastry, and fill them ahead of time, and bake them when you’re ready. To serve.
I think they are best hot and fresh.
They also reheat well. Simply pop any leftovers back in the oven for a few minutes to rewarm them.
Pesto
I made these pinwheels a nice balance of flavors, so the pesto isn’t the only thing you taste.
If you like lots of pesto flavor (like my husband), by all means, feel free to increase the amount of pesto.
And, use your favorite pesto in these. I think the flavors we love in new ways always make us happy.
These are great with homemade or store-bought pesto.
I’ve found some great store-bough ones. Be sure to look in the refrigerated section as well as the produce section of your store. I’ve found them in both areas. And, I’ve gotten some shelf stable ones that are good too, from the pasta section of the store.
Or, if you want to try making your own, I have a traditional basil pesto recipe here and a Sun Dried Tomato Pesto recipe here. Either would be delicious in these pinwheels!
Kitchen tools you may need
Note: these are affiliate links
Silicone mat
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Offset spatula
Pastry brush
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Recipe
Pesto Puff Pastry Pinwheels with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Red Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry 13.2 ounce, defrosted if frozen
- 2 tablespoons prepared pesto
- 1/3 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
- 2 tablespoons chopped sun dried tomatoes drained if packed in oil
- ½ cup grated Parmesan + more for garnish
- egg white lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 º F for a convection oven, or 425 º F for a regular oven.
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Unroll the puff pastry dough, and lay it on a lightly floured cutting board.
- Spread the pesto over the dough using an offset spatula. Sprinkle the red peppers and the sun dried tomatoes over the top. Sprinkle the ½ cup Parmesan over the top.
- Starting at the long side, roll the puff pastry up as tightly and as compact as you can.
- Cut the roll in half, and each of those halves in half again. Continue cutting in half until you have 16 slices that are approximately ½ – inch thick each.
- Lay each slice on the silicone mat lined baking sheet.
- Brush the outside of the slices with beaten egg white, and add a pinch of shredded Parmesan to the top of each roll.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is puffy and golden brown.
- Serve immediately, or allow to cool and store for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Amber Myers
Yum, these would be such a tasty snack. I love pesto! And tomatoes. I’ll be trying these out soon.
Tasheena
This would be perfect for my next event or to make on a whim for my family. Love the combination of flavors.
Jamie | Makeup Life and Love
Ohhhhhh these look so incredibly delicious. I love sun-dried tomatoes so I am so going to need to make this ASAP. Yummmmmmm!!
Ruth I
This is definitely the real deal. It looks so tasty and well prepared. You know it’s something that you cannot resist.
Jeni Hawkins
This looks like something that I can eat everyday. Perfect for family picnics or quick snacks. It seems easy to prepare as well.
Melissa Dixon
Oh my! That looks amazing! I bet my family would eat this right up. I need to make them as soon as possible! Yum!
Madi
This sounds like the ultimate appetizer! I love anything with pesto!
Michaela Kenkel
I made these for a get together this weekend, and they were the first thing gone!! So delicious!
Sue
Wow! Made these for Easter dinner with homemade pesto. They were DEVOURED by my family…no left overs!
Annie
These are great. I was looking for a dup to the pinwheels that we had at the Simpson House Inn in Santa Barbara, CA. I followed the recipe with two exceptions. I did not do the egg wash (not needed) and added feta in addition to the parm cheese because SHI had feta in theirs. Next time, I will add more of the sun dried tomatoes. So very tasty at any temperature. Easier to make than I thought. Thank you.