Jane’s Patisserie’s Vegetable Tarts
With flaky puff pastry topped with fresh basil pesto, roasted vegetables and plenty of cheese these easy tarts are the perfect addition to any Coronation street party.
From the book
Jane’s Patisserie: Celebrate! Bake every day special
The brand-new cookbook from baking sensation Jane's Patisserie
Celebrate every occasion with a bake, from birthdays to Christmas, Easter to Halloween
Featuring cookies to cheesecakes, traybakes to desserts, and much more
Introduction
Puff pastry tarts are one of the most versatile bakes you can make. They work as a starter, as a main to a dinner, as a lunch or even a snack and they are insanely easy to put together.
I buy ready-made puff pastry, roll it out and portion it into the number of tarts I want to make (six for this recipe). Top the tarts with whatever ingredients you prefer. I used a homemade pesto for these (the recipe makes more then you need, but the leftovers are great for many other things) and then used a variety of my most beloved toppings. Have fun with them, experiment and enjoy!
Ingredients
| For the pesto: | |
|---|---|
| 60g | bail leaves |
| 60g | pine nuts |
| 30g | parmesan |
| Pinch of | salt and pepper |
| 50-60 ml | olive oil |
| For the tarts: | |
| 350g | ready-made puff pastry |
| 6 tsp | pesto (above) |
| 3 tsp | sun-dried tomato paste |
| 10 | asparagus |
| 1 | red pepper, sliced |
| 12 | cherry tomatoes, chopped |
| 75g | feta cheese |
| 75g | mature cheddar cheese, grated |
Essential kit
You will need: a food processor and two large baking trays.
Method
PREP: 30 minutes COOK: 18–22 minutes COOL: 10 minutes LASTS: 2 days in the fridge (but best served fresh)
Pesto
In a food processor, add the basil, pine nuts, parmesan and salt and pepper. Blitz the mixture until broken down. Continue to mix, drizzling in the olive oil continuously until you reach the consistency of pesto you want – I like mine quite wet.
Store the pesto in the fridge in a sealed container – leftover pesto lasts for one week in the fridge.
Tarts
Preheat the oven to 210ºC/190ºC fan and line two large trays with parchment paper.
Roll the puff pastry into a rectangle about 35x23cm in size, and cut into 6 squares. Put 3 squares onto each baking tray, leaving space between each square to allow for spreading. Using a sharp knife, score around the edges of each square to form a border on the pastry.
Spread 1 teaspoon of homemade pesto and ½ teaspoon of sundried tomato paste onto each pastry square, inside the scored border. Scatter over the asparagus, red pepper and tomatoes. Crumble over the feta and sprinkle over the cheddar. Bake the tarts in the oven for 18–22 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden in colour. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
