Cheesy Pesto Scrolls

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Moms Meet and Barilla. I received product and compensation in exchange for my honest opinions. 

The new school year is well and truly under way for most families by now, and one of the (many!) stresses for us parents is working out what to pack our kids for lunch every day. Do they seriously have to eat every day? Ha! Ok, of course they do, but trying to come up with something beyond regular sandwiches can get a little tricky, especially when you're limited by foods that can be eaten in limited time (lunch break is always too short) and don't need to be reheated.

One of my favorite things to make for the kids (and myself) is cheesy pesto scrolls. Made simply with store bought puff pastry, pesto and cheese, these scrolls are super simple to make, are perfect for lunch boxes, can be eaten hot or cold, and they're packed full of Italian flavor thanks to Barilla.  

Today I'm sharing my simple recipe for these tasty scrolls. This is my favorite sort of recipe because you can add as little or as much of each ingredient as you like, and you can totally customize it with your favorite ingredients. Creamy pesto, mozzarella and parmesan are my go to ingredients, but you can use any sort of cheese that you like and even add things like salami, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms or pine nuts for extra flavor. 

This recipe is so easy that your kids will be able to make it themselves. You'll see my little helper's hands at work in all the photos. I did take over when it came to cutting up the scrolls, putting them in the oven, and taking them out when done, but otherwise Mathilde did most of the work herself.  This recipe makes approximately 20 scrolls depending on how thickly you cut them. 

Here's how me made these tasty cheesy pesto scrolls...

What you'll need:

2 sheets puff pastry (defrosted)

Barilla Creamy Genovese Pesto

Mozzarella (grated)

Parmesan

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out a sheet of defrosted puff pastry into a even rectangle shape.

Using a spoon, butter knife or spatula, spread a layer of pesto over the puff pastry, leaving about 1 in bare at one end.

Sprinkle desired amount of mozzarella and parmesan over the pesto.

Lightly beat the egg and add a little water to make an egg wash. Using a pastry brush, coat the bare end of the pastry with the egg wash. This will help hold it all together once it's rolled up.

Starting at one end, carefully roll the puff pastry into a cylinder toward the end coated with the egg wash.

Fold the end over the top of the rolled up pastry and press down gently to hold it together.

If your pastry is extra soft and sticky you may wish to refrigerate the roll for about 10 minutes to make it a little firmer. This will make it easier to cut and less likely to stick to the knife. If the pastry is not sticky (mine wasn't this time) you can skip this step.

Use a sharp knife to cut the roll into approximately 10 scrolls and lay each one open side up on a lined baking tray and inch or two apart.

Using a pastry brush, coat each piece with egg wash making sure you cover the sides and the top.

Bake in a 350F/180C oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until pastry is golden. Transfers scrolls from baking tray to a cooling rack to cool down a little. 

These scrolls are best served while still warm, however you can also store them in an air tight container in the fridge to be eaten cold or reheated later. They also freeze well.

These little scrolls are perfect in lunch boxes, at parties and as after school snacks. As I mentioned earlier, this recipe is super flexible so you can add any ingredients you like. 

Barilla Creamy Genovese Pesto is my favorite to use in this recipe (and also on pasta or chicken) but classic pesto works well too. When we first moved to the US many of the food brands that we found in the supermarkets were new to us, but Barilla had long been my favorite brand for pasta, pasta sauces, and especially pesto back home in Australia so I was excited to find it in stores here too. 

You can find Barilla Creamy Genovese Pesto in Target, Safeway, Albertsons, Meijer, Publix, ShopRite and many more stores across the country. To find a store near you visit momsmeet.link/barillalocate

Let me know if you make these tasty little scrolls. They're so good you'll want to give give them a chef's kiss - or an actual kiss like Mathilde is doing here! You know the food is tasty when your kids want to give it a kiss first!