Baby it's cold outside, but the food is so delightful. I know it's freezing and there's been a fair bit of snow around here but these tarts are scrumptious and will make you feel like you're in the med (provided you're heating's turned up!) wherever in the world you are - hi to the people who are reading my blog elsewhere in the world - it's very exciting to see that people in New Zealand, Canada and Germany amongst other places are perusing my blog. What do you think of it?
A few days ago I showed you how to make pesto from scratch. There was a reason for that, other than the fact that it's delectable. I found a recipe in delicious. for pesto tarts that I thought would be perfect for a light lunch with my friends whilst we revised (especially if you serve it with a salad). Alternatively you could make individual ones for an elegant starter at your next dinner party. If you're going to make them individually then you will have left over puff pasty that I suggest you cut into little shapes and top them with something like sundries tomato paste or cheese and serve as canapés so that it's not wasted. One 320g box of ready rolled puff pastry will, with careful fitting, make 14cm circular tartlets (I used a small breakfast bowl as a guide). The way that I'm suggesting you make it should serve 3-4 people as a light meal and makes sure that nothing is wasted.
A few days ago I showed you how to make pesto from scratch. There was a reason for that, other than the fact that it's delectable. I found a recipe in delicious. for pesto tarts that I thought would be perfect for a light lunch with my friends whilst we revised (especially if you serve it with a salad). Alternatively you could make individual ones for an elegant starter at your next dinner party. If you're going to make them individually then you will have left over puff pasty that I suggest you cut into little shapes and top them with something like sundries tomato paste or cheese and serve as canapés so that it's not wasted. One 320g box of ready rolled puff pastry will, with careful fitting, make 14cm circular tartlets (I used a small breakfast bowl as a guide). The way that I'm suggesting you make it should serve 3-4 people as a light meal and makes sure that nothing is wasted.
Pesto and mozzarella tart
Serves 3-4
Oven at 180˚C fan
An option to add meat is to loosely crisscross very thin slices of pancetta over the pesto before adding the mozzarella.
Ingredients
One quantity of homemade pesto (you can use shop bought if you need to)
125g ball of mozzarella
320g box of ready rolled puff pastry
Unroll the pasty and place it on an oven tray (if it doesn't fit on a tray then cut it in half and use two trays, dividing the rest of the ingredients equally) before placing the pastry in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill.
Make the pesto.
Take the pastry out of the fridge and prick the pastry all over with a fork to help it rise evenly.
Spread the pesto evenly over the pastry, leaving a 1cm border all the way around.
Slice or tear the mozzarella into pieces and scatter over the pesto.
Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the pastry is golden.
Cut into pieces and enjoy.
As you may have noticed - I've updated my comments form to Disqus, which I hope will make things wiser as I've had several reports that people can't find where to comment or that their comment never uploaded (nor did it appear in my comments moderation section).
As you may have noticed - I've updated my comments form to Disqus, which I hope will make things wiser as I've had several reports that people can't find where to comment or that their comment never uploaded (nor did it appear in my comments moderation section).
Can these tarts be frozen? I've not got a big enough stomach for an entire roll of pastry!
ReplyDeleteYes, they can - just prepare them and place them on a tray in the freezer, uncooked, for a couple of hours before transferring them to a tub or bag to keep in the freezer for up to a month
ReplyDelete