Roasted Tomato Goat Cheese Dill Tart

Here is the second installment of my recipes for Quick and Easy Puff Pastry. Once again I have used frozen puff pastry which can be found in the frozen section of your grocery store. These would be wonderful served for lunch with a baby green salad or could be made in a smaller version for appetizers. They are made with parmesan cheese, carmelized onions, goat cheese with dill, and roasted tomatoes. The first thing you have to do is roast the tomatoes, carmelize the onions, and take the goat cheese out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature. This recipe makes eight tarts.

Roasted Tomatoes: Take four Roma tomatoes and cut them in half. Place them on a baking sheet and sprinkle with one Tbs. olive oil* and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast at 375 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. Turn them over the last 10 minutes of roasting. Let cool.

* A word about olive oil: I use extra virgin olive oil for all of my cooking. I know they say you don't need to do this when the olive oil is going to be cooked but I feel it does give a much better flavor. I never buy regular olive oil, only extra virgin. The choice is up to you.

Carmelized Onions: Take 2 medium sized onions, peel, and cut them in half. Thinly slice each of the four halfs. Heat two Tbs. olive oil and one Tbs. unsalted butter in a medium saute pan. Add the onions, one tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, and a 1/4 tsp. sugar. Saute the onions on medium heat until translucent and just starting to turn slightly brown. About 10 minutes. Let cool.

Goat Cheese with Fresh Dill: Let eight ounces of goat cheese come to room temperature. Stir in one Tbs. fresh chopped dill, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Reserve.

After letting the puff pastry thaw for about twenty minutes on my counter, I floured a board and rolled it a little bit to smooth the folds. (You can also let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator.) I then cut out eight four inch rounds. You then take a smaller cutter, I used a three inch, center it on the cut out circle and make a slight indentation. You do not want to go all the way through the dough. Place these on parchment on a baking sheet. All of the ingredients that you're going to put on the tarts must be kept inside the inner circle. You want the outside rim to be able to rise up around the filling.

Fill the tarts in the following order:

Place 2 tsp. grated parmesan cheese on the bottom of each tart.

Divide the carmelized onion evenly between the 8 tarts. About 1 Tbs. each.

Divide the dilled goat cheese evenly between the 8 tarts. About a Tbs and a half for each.

Place a half of the roasted tomatoes on the goat cheese for each tart.

Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. The last five minutes of baking sprinkle on some grated parmesan cheese. Garnish with a fresh sprig of dill. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Variations:

Other cheese could be used such as fontina or gorgonzola.

Other fresh herbs could be used such as basil or thyme.

They could be made smaller for appetizers by using smaller round cutters. Adjust the amount of your fillings as necessary.

Try a square or even oblong shape.

I hope you enjoy these Roasted Tomato Goat Cheese Dill Tarts. They are really delicious and not difficult to make. Stay tuned for the third installment, Raspberry White Chocolate Mousse Napoleans. If you have any questions please email me.  lrice5241@att.net

Enjoy!

Martha