Tomato, ham and ricotta tarts

Tonight’s dinner was needed in a hurry. After a day walking the length and breadth of Kew Gardens everyone was hungry and tired.

I adapted a recipe I found while rifling through August’s Good Food Magazine on the lookout for dishes to showcase our homegrown tomatoes.

Sam and Arlo have been picking our tomatoes daily – eating them like sweets. So I’d not even got to try a single one myself. I resorted to picking them at night and hiding a secret stash in the fridge. I’ve now saved up enough to make the tarts.

I’d like to say I made the puff pastry myself, especially as we learnt how to do it at Leiths, however I don’t have much in the way of time these days so I resorted to the ready made stuff. It did a ruddy marvellous job of puffing up and going golden though so I’m more than happy with the results.

Here’s the recipe:

Tomato, ham and ricotta tarts
Serves 4

Ingredients

375g ready-rolled sheet puff pastry
50ml double cream
250g pot ricotta
1 egg , lightly beaten
50g Parmesan
2 slices ham , torn
150g cherry tomatoes , halved
Small handful of basil leaves

Method
1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roll the pastry from one side to make a rough square, then quarter to make 4 smaller squares. Prick all over with a fork, transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 15 mins until puffed and golden.

2. Meanwhile, mix together the cream, ricotta, egg and Parmesan.

3. Remove the tarts once they’ve puffed up, flatten the middles and thickly spread the ricotta mixture over, leaving a small border. Scatter over the ham and tomatoes, season, then bake for 15 mins until the filling is slightly risen and golden. Scatter with torn basil leaves. Serve with salad, if you like.

Puff pastry tarts like this are such a winner for a speedy weeknight supper. The boys all loved them, Sam wanted seconds and Matthew’s vanished in about 20 seconds. I’ve saved one for Matthew  to have at work – I bet it’ll be fab cold actually.