Orange Cheese Danish Pastry

Ingredients

• 1 cup 8 oz. Sargento® Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp. butter (softened)
• 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. grated orange rind
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 sheets (1 lb. frozen puff pastry dough, thawed)
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 Tbsp. orange juice
• 2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts or sliced almonds (optional)

Instructions

1. 1

   Combine cheese, sugar, egg, butter, flour, orange rind and vanilla in large bowl. Beat with a whisk, or an electric mixer on medium speed, until well blended.

2. 2

   Unfold pastry into rectangle; place on baking sheet. With a sharp knife or pastry scraper, make 2-inch-deep cuts at 1-inch intervals on long sides of pastry. Spread cheese mixture down center 3 inches of pastry. Crisscross strips over filling, alternating sides and bringing strips all the way across filling.

3. 3

   Bake in preheated 400°F oven 25 minutes or until bottom is golden brown.

4. 4

   Cool on wire rack. With a sieve, sift confectioners sugar over a bowl of orange juice and mix until smooth. Drizzle mixture over pastry; sprinkle with almonds or walnuts (optional).

5. 5

   Enjoy!