These baked pesto zucchini appetizers are made with puff pastry, Boursin cheese and 2 pretty colors of zucchini. They take less than an hour to make, you can make them a whole day ahead of time and they can easily be made vegan! Such a delicious and beautiful appetizer recipe for any party!
Pesto Zucchini Rosettes
I love to serve these rosettes at Fall cocktail parties because they complement Autumn decor so nicely. I’ve served them beside Autumn-styled crudités and even as a side dish for brunch! They also make a gorgeous addition to a Fall wedding or bridal shower too!
I made these in standard-size cupcake tins, but you can also use mini-cupcake tins as well! They become perfectly bite-sized, so don’t be afraid to cut this recipe in half if you want to make them small enough to pop in your mouth.
Why This Recipe is Special
They’re just so pretty – They look as impressive as they taste! Definitely an appetizer that will turn heads.
They can be made a whole day ahead – Simply bake them, refrigerate and reheat just before serving.
They are vegetarian and can be easily made vegan – Just be sure to use vegetarian pesto if you want to ensure they are truly vegetarian, though. Standard pesto contains parmesan, which is not vegetarian. To see how to make them vegan, take a look at the “A Few Tips” section below.
Ingredient Notes
pesto – I used store-bought pesto, but if you want to make your own, take a look at my recipe for Italian Pesto Turkey Meatballs for a simple pesto recipe.
zucchini – You can use just one color of zucchini, but they’re much prettier with both green and yellow.
white balsamic vinegar – Make sure to use white balsamic instead of brown. They’d taste just a nice, but they won’t look as pretty.
boursin – I used Garlic & Fine Herb, but you can also use their cracked pepper or basil flavors. You can also substitute herbed goat cheese instead, but you may want to combine it with cream cheese to make it more easily spreadable.
puff pastry – Make sure to thoroughly thaw puff pastry for 40 minutes before baking.
How to Make These Zucchini Appetizers – Step by Step
1. Thaw one sheet of puff pastry for 40 minutes. You’ll only be using about ⅓ of a sheet for this recipe.
2. Use a knife or kitchen scissors to cut about a 2”x 2” square of puff pastry. Flatten it a bit with your fingers to make it a 2½ “ x 2½” square.
3. Grease 6 cups of a cupcake tin with a tiny bit of olive oil. Lay 6 puff pastry squares into each, pressing them to the edges on the bottom.
4. Spoon 1 teaspoon of Boursin cheese into each cup, and flatten it down to cover the bottom.
5. In a small bowl, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar and 1 teaspoon pesto. Add a sprinkle of garlic powder and stir. Set aside.
6. Use an apple peeler to make thin strips of 1 green zucchini, making sure each strip has green edges as best you can. Once you get to the seeds, flip so you can get more strips easily. You’ll want about 12 strips.
7. Strip the yellow zucchini the same way you did the green.
8. Slice each strip in half of both the green and yellow zucchini.
9. Preheat oven to 375 F. (190 C.) On a plate, pour half of the pesto mixture. Dip 2 strips of the green and yellow in the mixture, coating both sides.
10. Lay one strip on top of the other, hold one end (I know it’s a little slippery), then wrap them into a rose.
11. Place the rose onto the plate, dip another strip into pesto-oil, and wrap it around the rose. Continue, alternating colors until you have a rose that will fit perfectly into the pastry – about 4 strips of each color.
12. Place your rosette into a pastry cup, and press it down gently into the cheese. Repeat the process until 6 cups are filled. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, and serve.
Common Questions
Although they are best right out of the oven, you can store baked rosettes in a container with a lid and refrigerate. When ready to serve, reheat them at 375 F. (190 C.) for 7-10 minutes.
3-4 days.
Yes. Store them in a container with a lid for no more than 1 month before reheating. To reheat from frozen without thawing, bake at 350 F. (165. C) for 15 minutes.
A Few Tips
1. To make them vegan:
You can substitute Boursin with a creamy vegan cheese like Tofutti cream cheese, or you can even substitute with refried beans! You’ll also just need to make sure you use a vegan pesto like Gotham Greens Vegan Pesto.
2. To make them bite-size:
Simply use a mini-cupcake tin. The only differences in the recipe will be the size of puff pastry that you cut, and you’ll use only half the cheese in each cup. Cut the puff pastry in 1”x1” pieces and flatten them a bit so they’re not as thick when you press them into the cupcake cups. You’ll also get a dozen tiny ones, instead of 6.
3. To make them more colorful:
You can add strips of carrot to make them even prettier! If you’re lucky to find yellow and purple ones, as well as orange, they’ll look like candy!
Recipes to Pair with These Appetizers
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Pesto Zucchini Rosettes
Equipment
- kitchen scissors
- ½ dozen cupcake tin
- small mixing bowl
- cutting board
- apple peeler
- sharp knife
- plate
Ingredients
- ⅓ sheet puff pastry
- 6 tsp. Boursin cheese – Garlic and Fine Herb
- 2 tbsp. olive oil – and a little for greasing cupcake tins
- 2 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. pesto
- 1 yellow zucchini
- 1 green zucchini
- salt & pepper – a sprinkle
- garlic powder – a sprinkle
Instructions
- Thaw one sheet of puff pastry for 40 minutes. You’ll only be using about ⅓ of a sheet for this recipe.
- Use a knife or kitchen scissors to cut about a 2”x 2” square of puff pastry. Flatten it a bit with your fingers to make it a 2½ “ x 2½” square.
- Grease 6 cups of a cupcake tin with a tiny bit of olive oil. Lay 6 puff pastry squares into each, pressing them to the edges on the bottom.
- Spoon 1 teaspoon of Boursin cheese into each cup, and flatten it down to cover the bottom.
- In a small bowl, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar and 1 teaspoon pesto. Add a sprinkle of garlic powder and stir. Set aside.
- Use an apple peeler to make thin strips of 1 green zucchini and 1 yellow zucchini, making sure each strip has green or yellow edges as best you can. Once you get to the seeds, flip so you can get more strips easily. You’ll want about 12 strips of each. Slice each strip in half of both the green and yellow zucchini.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. (190 C.)
- On a plate, pour half of the pesto mixture. Dip 1 strip of the green and 1 strip of the yellow in the mixture, coating both sides. Lay one strip on top of the other, hold one end, then wrap them into a rose.
- Place the rose onto the plate, dip another strip into pesto-oil and wrap it around the rose. Continue, alternating colors until you have a rose that will fit perfectly into the pastry – about 4 strips of each color.
- Place your rosette into a pastry cup, and press it down gently into the cheese. Repeat the process until 6 cups are filled. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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Amy Turpin
Hi Genevieve – do you have a video on how to make the rosettes? I haven’t made anything like this before and would be nice to see it done. lol
Genevieve Morrison
Unfortunately, I don’t. But I can make a little tutorial in my instagram stories this weekend after the Thanksgiving dust has settled 😉
Amy Turpin
Oh darn. Well I am planning to make them tonight for tomorrows dinner. So we shall see how it goes. lol! I did look on youtube but only found ones that cut the veggies different than you. They say to cut in thins rounds not thinly with a peeler. So now I am might do both and see how they turn out. haha!
Genevieve Morrison
I hope they turned out beautifully! Did they come together nicely?
Pernille Weber
Hi there,
These look absolutely stunning!! Do you have a suggestion to what I can use indtraf of refried beans? We don’t really have that in Denmark for some reason, and I’m considering making them my self. But in case you have another(and perhaps easier) alternative, I thought I’d ask:-)
Thanks for the inspiring og beautiful blog:-)
– Pernille
Genevieve Morrison
Why, thank you! And greetings from New York! If you don’t have refried beans in your food stores, you can always make them from scratch. They’re traditionally made with pinto beans, but you can also use black beans or kidney beans. Here’s a nice recipe I found. https://cookieandkate.com/2018/easy-refried-beans-recipe/
You can also substitute a little mashed potatoes! You could use either regular potatoes or sweet potatoes, just make sure to mash them until they’re nice and smooth! If you’re using regular potatoes, add a little sprinkle of garlic powder to them to make them extra tasty. And if you’re not vegan, you could also add some of the fabulous cheeses you have in Denmark! Enjoy!