Some tennis ladies came over a few weeks ago and we tried out Ina’s tomato and goat cheese tarts after a vigorous game of doubles. After so much energy expended we were in tremendous need of replenishment and these were pretty perfect. Not too heavy, they would make a great appetizer. Plus, the base of them is puff pastry. I adore anything made with puff pastry. I found the recipe in Ina’s Back to Basics cookbook. I modified the size from 6″ to 4″ to make them a little more managable and appetizerish. Delicious!
Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts
Ingredients:
- 1 package (17.3 oz/ 2 sheets) puff pastry
- 4 cups onions, thinly sliced
- 3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
- kosher salt and pepper
- 3 T. dry white wine
- 2 t. fresh thyme, minced
- 8 T./ 8 large pinchfuls parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 8 oz. garlic and herb goat cheese
- 2 large tomato, cut into (8) 1/4 inch slices
- 8 T. basil, julienned
Cooking Directions:
- Roll out each puff pastry sheet to 11 inches by 11 inches and cut out (4) 4 inch circles in each one. Try to figure out something to do with the scraps because you will have them.
- Place the pastry circles on parchment paper on 2 baking sheets and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Saute onions and garlic in 3 T. of olive oil over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes. The onions should be very limp. Add 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper, wine, and thyme and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Score a 1/4 inch wide border around each pastry circle and prick the pastry inside the scored line with the tines of a fork. Sprinkle a tablespoon of parmesan on each round within the inner circle.
- Place one-eighth of onion mixture on each round within the inner circle. Crumble 1 oz. of goat cheese on top of the onions. Place 1 tomato slice on top of the goat cheese. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and basil. Top it off with a large pinchful of parmesan.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees until golden brown. Serve hot or warm or even room temp was good!
- Enjoy!
Rita, who also worships Ina, made us Ina’s campari orange spritzer from the same cookbook. They were very refreshing, but none of us realized that campari tastes like grapefruit – so, they were a little more bitter than sweet. If you like a grapefruit, this is the drink for you.
Campari and Orange Spritzer (for each drink)
Ingredients:
- 6 ice cubes
- 1/4 cup campari
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 1/2 cups sparkling water, such as san pellegrino
- sliced oranges
Cooking Directions:
- Put everything in a glass in the order listed.
- Enjoy!