pumpkin brie and pine nut tart

Butternut pumpkin, brie, rosemary and pinenut tart

by in Food 0

Who loves brie cheese!?  Who loves pastry!?  If your answer is yes, then you need to bake this butternut pumpkin, brie, rosemary and pine nut tart!!  I was looking for a delicious new tart flavour for an Australia Day party, and thought “hey, why not throw all my favourite ingredients on some pastry and see what happens”, and luckily the combination was perfection!!  They were gone in minutes!!

To make things even better, they were super easy to make!

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Ingredients (makes 2 large tarts, or 12 pieces)

  •  2 sheets frozen puff pastry (thawed)
  • 1 egg (for brushing)
  • 1 butternut pumpkin, chopped and thinly sliced
  • Fresh rosemary
  • 1 small wheel of brie cheese, thinly sliced
  • Pine nuts
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  •  Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
  • Place thinly sliced butternut pumpkin on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper – drizzle with olive oil and rosemary and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven.
  • Place each sheet of pastry on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.
  • Fold over  1cm edge on each side of the puff pastry to make a border around the edge of each sheet of pastry.  Press the edges down with a fork.
  • Gently prick the pastry all over with a fork
  • Lightly brush the edges of the pastry with egg.
  • Fill the pastry with pastry weights, and bake for 10 minutes.
  • Remove the pastry from the oven, and remove the pastry weights.
  • Top each tart with the pumpkin, brie, pine nuts additional rosemary.  Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and pepper.
  • Bake each tart for a further 10 minutes.
  • Allow to cool, and slice each tart into 6 pieces.

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Enjoy!!   Happy Australia Day!!

Lemon Tart

Little Lemon Tarts

by in Food 0

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted a lemon flavoured baked good on the blog….far too long I say!!

I’ve finally finished uni for the semester and what better way to celebrate with the baking and eating of (too many of) these babies!!

I looked at a few different recipes, and wanted to have a go at making the pastry myself….and this recipe was simple to follow and turned out beautifully!!

 

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Recipe from Butter Baking

Ingredients:

For the tart pastry:

  • 180g unsalted butter (6 oz)
  • 6 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 cups flour (300g, 10 oz)

For the lemon filling:

  • ¼ cup plain flour (35g, 1¼ oz)
  • 1 cup sugar (220g, ½ pound)
  • ½ cup lemon juice (125ml, 4 oz, about 3 lemons)
  • zest from 1 lemon, grated
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • pinch of salt

Method

  1. To make the tart pastry, preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F) and get out two mini muffin pans.
  2. Place the butter, water, oil, sugar and salt in an overproof bowl.
  3. Put the bowl in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the butter is melted, bubbling, and just beginning to brown around the edges.
  4. Carefully remove the bowl from the oven and dump in the flour. Stir quickly, until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the dish.
  5. Put a teaspoon of dough into one mini muffin hole, and press it into the base and up the sides using your fingers. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
  6. Prick the dough with a fork once or twice.
  7. Bake for 8 – 12 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown all over.
  8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
  9. To make the tart filling, reduce the oven to 150 C (300 F).
  10. Combine the flour and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix to dissolve the sugar.
  11. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and the egg yolk with salt.
  12. Add the eggs into the lemon and sugar mixture and whisk until well combined.
  13. Pour the filling into each pastry case
  14. Bake for 5 – 10 minutes, until the centers are just set

 

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They’re lemony, they’re delicious…what more could you want!!  Serve with a cup of tea!!

Tomato, feta and basil tarts

by in Food 0

tart6 What’s that, a savoury recipe on Pop Therapy!?  Yes – you heard me – savory!!  “You’ve changed man!” I hear you say….but don’t fret, these babies are just as delicious as a lemon cake (or even better, make a great prelude to a lemon cake!!).

I made these for a Sunday afternoon party and they went down a treat!!  I used a store bought puff pastry which meant they were quick and easy to make – you can also try substituting different combinations of flavours instead of tomato and basil if you want some variety!!

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Here is the recipe!!

Ingredients (to make 16 tarts)

  • 4 sheets of frozen puff pastry
  • 4 eggs, whisked
  • 1 block of Danish feta cheese
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Fresh basil
  • 1 extra egg (for brushing the pastry)
  • Sea salt and cracked pepper

Method

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius
  2. De-frost pastry.  Cut each sheet of pastry into 4 squares
  3. Fold edges of pastry over to create a border – press edges of pastry with a fork to flatten
  4. To make filling, whisk eggs, then combine with danish feta and lemon juice
  5. Spoon filling in to centre of tart shells
  6. Top tarts with tomato and basil, then season with salt and pepper
  7. Brush edges of pastry with egg
  8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until pastry has risen and looks golden brown

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