GOAT’S CHEESE AND VEGETABLE TART. (forgotten cakes and bakes of 2015)

I make a tart something like this regularly.  It’s a great way of using up a glut of veg and noggly bits of cheese.  It’s incredibly quick to prepare and this one, using red and yellow peppers and our lovely home grown tomatoes, was nothing short of sunshine on a plate.  Especially considering that we ate it for lunch outdoors, in beautiful sunshine, at the end of October.



There is nothing tricky about it at all.  You simply unroll a pack of ready made puff pastry, score the edge to make a margin, arrange a layer of vegetables and cheese and bake. 



It’s done when the veg are tender and the pastry is golden brown.

Ingredients

1 pack of ready made, ready rolled puff pastry.

½ a red and green pepper, deseeded and cut into short slices

1 onion, peeled and cut into wedges

5-6 small tomatoes, halved

a few torn basil leaves

3-4 thick slices of goat’s cheese, cut into chunks

olive oil

salt and pepper

a few teaspoons of pesto (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°c / 200° fan.  Unroll the pastry onto a baking sheet, using the paper from the package to line the sheet.  (It’s a good idea to remove the pastry from the fridge and bring it to room temperature ten minutes before unrolling to avoid the pastry cracking.)  Score the pastry all the way round, about 2” from the edge, being careful not to go all the way through.

Arrange the vegetables over the pastry, dot with the chunks of cheese, add the basil leaves, drizzle lightly with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the veg are tender.    Drop a few blobs of pesto over the tart if you like.  Serve warm with salad, bread, chips, or anything you fancy.

Serves 4.