Regular readers will know I’m a bit partial to a puff pastry tart, especially when all it requires is reaching for some ready-made ready-rolled pastry. Lazy? Me? Too right!
It’s a real quickie of a meal, it takes about 30 mins to make, but still manages to feel special and luxurious so is ideal to serve up to friends popping in for a bite to eat.
This was certainly born out of what I had knocking about in the fridge – bog standard cream cheese and cheddar cheese rather than anything fancy or expensive like mascarpone and gruyere. I was a bit nervous about how it’d turn out but it was melt-in-the-cakehole lush!
The chipper bright green broccoli and perky red tomatoes served well as attractive toppings, and are acceptable forms of veg to my monsters. You can use whatever your offspring love best to entice them in…
Broccoli and tomato and basil tart (serves 4)
375g pack fresh ready-rolled puff pastry
half head of broccoli, cut into florets and then halved
200g tub light cream cheese
2 large, free-range eggs – one beaten.
50g cheddar cheese, grated
4 sundried tomatoes chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- Heat the oven to 220°C/fan200°C/gas 7. Unroll the pack of fresh ready-rolled puff pastry and place on a baking tray. Mark a 1.5cm border and prick the inner rectangle with a fork. Brush the border with a little of the beaten egg and bake for 10 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and carefully press the centre of the pastry case down, leaving the border standing proud.
- Cook the broccoli in boiling water for approx 4 mins until tender – drain and refresh with cold water to stop it from over-cooking.
- In a bowl, mix the cream cheese with 1 large, free-range egg, until smooth, then stir in 25g cheddar cheese, chopped sundried tomatoes and basil, and some black pepper. Spread within the border of the pastry tart.
- Arrange the broccoli and cherry tomatoes on top of filling. Scatter with the remaining 25g cheddar cheese, then bake in the oven for a further 15 minutes, until golden.
- Cut into four pieces and serve with new potatoes and a mixed leaf salad.
This kind of tart makes a weekly (at least!) appearance in our house 🙂 Lazy maybe but so, so yummy. I’ve never used broccoli on one though, which considering it’s one of Izzy’s favourite vegetables is a huge oversight! So thank you for the inspiration!
Life would be dull indeed without puff pastry 😉
I can testify to the lushness of this very tart. The potatoes were to die for too. Maybe I’ll get Sharron to give it a stab some time :p
Thanks Dom – glad you enjoyed 🙂
This looks SO good!!
Thanks – hope you have fun trying it 🙂
can this be frozen before cooking?
what kind of sundried tomatoes did you use?from the deli section of the supermarket or stuff in a jar?
I would freeze it after cooking it, once it has cooled completely. You could use any kind of sundried tomatoes you like!