Christmas Tree Breadsticks

Ingredients:

• 400 g of chilled pizza dough
• 2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
• 2 small cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup + 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup grated whole milk mozzarella (about 110 g)
• 0.5 cup whole milk ricotta
• 1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese (about 30 g)

Preparation:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Line an inverted baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. With the processor running, gradually pour in 1/4 cup olive oil and pulse until the pesto is finely chopped but not smooth.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the mozzarella, ricotta, pecorino, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add the pesto to the cheese mixture and toss to combine.
4. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12 x 15-inch rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1 large and 2 small triangles. One 12-inch side will be the base of the large triangle, with two small triangles on either side. On the prepared baking sheet, join the 15-inch sides of the two small triangles to form a large triangle, pulling and pressing the dough as needed to shape it. This will be the base of the tree.
5. Leaving a 0.5 cm border around the triangle, spread the pesto and cheese mixture evenly over the dough to cover the tree base. Top it with the remaining large triangle, stretching the dough as needed to fit over the base. Seal the 0.5 cm border by pressing the top layer firmly onto the bottom layer.
6. Leaving a 2.5 cm (1 in) "trunk" in the center of the tree, use a sharp knife to cut horizontal lines about 4 cm (1.5 in) apart from the center of the "trunk" to each edge to create branches. Twist each branch to expose the layers of cheese and pesto. Shorter branches will be twisted 1-2 times, while longer branches will be twisted 3-4 times.
7. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Lightly brush the tree with the remaining 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Serve warm.