This has got to be one of my favorite starters, and as it is made up of separate parts, it can be made up as canapés or as a huge tart for a casual supper or lunch.
The recipe below is for small individual tarts.
EQUIPMENT:
- 2 heavy based baking trays
- Roll of baking parchment
- A rolling pin (but not if you use ready-rolled 😉 )
- A pastry brush
INGREDIENTS:
- A packet of ready-made/ready rolled puff pastry.
- Flour, for rolling out the pastry, if it’s not ready-rolled.
- A jar of red onion marmalade (your own, https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/red-onion-marmalade-with-wine-and-port/ or a jar of decent quality ready-made)
- About 250g of goat’s cheese. It doesn’t really matter what kind you pick, as it can be sliced or crumbled over the tarts. I like the ones with a rind, but that’s just me..
- a tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
METHOD:
- Heat oven to 190 degrees
- Line each baking tray with baking parchment.
- Roll out the pastry to about 1/2 a cm thickness, or just unroll it from the packet if you’re being really easy on yourself -(keep it on its wrapping paper).
- Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into 4” squares, you could also use circular pastry cutters.
- Outline a 1 inch border around the edge of each square, using the knife to make a criss-cross design on the border
- Place a large spoonful of onion marmalade into the centre of the pastry, making sure that it doesn’t overlap the border.
- Put a slice of goats cheese, or a generous crumble of it, on top of the onions, and sprinkle on the thyme leaves
- Brush the beaten egg over the pastry borders
- Cook at 190 for 10-15 mins until the pastry is risen, and the cheese is bubbling
- Serve warm with a green leaf salad
NOTES:
- For parties and at Christmas I tend to make really small (about 2” across) individual pastry cases with my own short crust pastry. These little pastry cases keep really well in an airtight container in a cool place, ready to be made up at the drop of a hat.
- The short-crust pastry recipe is on this site..https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/my-easy-short-crust-pastry/
- To make up larger tarts, I just divide a ready rolled piece of Puff pastry into two pieces and leave a wider border for each tart. I think it looks better, and it means that everyone gets a decent piece of crunchy pastry in each slice. The cooking time is longer for this – give it about 25 mins, and have a look after about 20 minutes.
- Check out my new favourite way to make these tarts – My Goat’s Cheese and Red Onion Marmalade Roll-ups –
I started writing down recipes in an old copybook when I was about 16. With 6 children at home, my Mother was always glad of a hand in the kitchen, and really allowed us to experiment - as long as we washed up afterwards, and left the kitchen immaculate! Having a tidy kitchen has followed me through my life, as has the habit of writing down my favourite recipes; except that these days I write them for my website, and add photographs when I can. The website really started when it occurred to me that my daughter might like to have these recipes when I've forgotten them. In my early days of cooking for family and friends, I used to phone my Mum all the time to ask her for the recipe for some of our favourite family dinners. She rarely had a recipe to hand - I think, like me, she made a lot of it up as she went along.. So welcome to Eating for Ireland - these are the recipes that my friends and family having been eating these past 40 years.. yes, I truly am ancient! They are tried and tested, and have worked for me for all that time - I have updated them as new ingredients became available - I really hope you'll find something that you can make into a family favourite of your own. You don't have to tell anyone where you found these great new dishes that you're serving up - it can be our little secret, but I'd really love it if you could give me a sneaky 'follow' on Facebook and Instagram.. So off you go - have a good rummage around, you're bound to find something new! My sincere thanks to all of you who have found a recipe that you liked and dropped me a line to tell me - I really do love to hear from you! Happy Cooking! Becks xx