Recipe for Quick and Easy Puff Pastry Tarts

Veggie Tart



Pepperoni Tart

 

Here’s a simple recipe that adapts to what you have on hand (veggies, cheeses) and what type of meal (appetizer, main meal) you are preparing.  Serve right away, they keep ok if reheated the next day but are much better within an hour or so of cooking.

For 16 pieces per tart, each approximately 111 calories, 7.6 grams fat, 7.9 grams carbs, 3.4 grams protein (pepperoni) and 116 calories, 7.9 grams fat, 8.9 grams carbs, 3 grams protein (veggie)

BTW  Check out the new tab at the top of the home page: a listing of my phase 1 South Beach friendly recipes.

Recipe for Spinach and Herbed Cheese Bundles

Here in Hawaii, pūpū refers to an appetizer, canapé , or hors d’oeuvre and folks go to happy hour for “pūpū and drinks”.  Our neighborhood hosts occasional pūpū parties where we get together with neighbors to eat, drink and “talk story”.  Here is what I took to a recent pūpū party, inspired by the lightened up creamed spinach I made a while back.  These turned out nicely puffed, lightly crisp and flavorful.

Posh Pork

My dear hubby is a late afternoon/early evening exerciser.  Me?  If I don't work out in the morning, chances are I won't work out at all.  When he's taking his early evening run, I'm usually watching "Good Eats" on the Food Network.  I love Alton Brown's show!  It's filmed in Atlanta, where I have alot of ties and I enjoy his goofy science spin on things.

Recently, Alton did a show on pork tenderloin, one of our favorite meats to grill (I'll be sharing some marinade recipes with you soon!).  He did a twist on Beef Wellington, making it with pork.  Here's the original recipe.  It looked easy on the show and so off I went to get some puff pastry.

The dried apples were MIA at my local grocery store, so I substituted dried apricots, which I've used with pork before and knew was a good pairing.  Turns out, when I read the recipe online, that many who tried the recipe also used apricots with good results.  I also used 2 tsp of thyme.  I had very fresh young thyme so I didn't worry about getting the leaves off the tender stems.  I omitted the salt (thought the prosciutto would be plenty salty enough).  I also used 2 TBSP mustard and 2 oz of apricots.  Otherwise I followed the recipe as written.  Oh, and I rolled the pastry out on a baking mat.  Next time, I would trim off some of the ends of the pastry and make a pretty decoration for the top.