Blue Cheese Tartlets
 

8 oz (250 g) commercial puff pastry

3 oz (100 g) spinach or Swiss chard  (silverbeet), trimmed

1 egg

2/3 cup (5 fl oz/150 ml) heavy (double) cream

¾ cup (3 oz/100 g) freshly grated  Emmenthaler cheese

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

salt and freshly ground pepper

3 oz (100 g) Roquefort cheese, crumbled [blue cheese works too]

2 tablespoons pine nuts


 

Defrost the puff pastry in the refrigerator or at room temperature.


Preheat an oven to 425°F (225°C). Bring a large saucepan filled with water to a boil. Plunge the spinach or Swiss chard into the boiling water and cook for 30 seconds. Immediately drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to halt the cooking. Drain again, pressing against the greens to force out as much water as possible; set aside.


Break the egg into a bowl. Add the cream, Emmenthaler cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste and beat with a fork until completely blended. Coarsely chop the spinach or chard and add it to the bowl; stir well.


On a lightly floured board, roll the dough out as thinly as possible. With a fluted pastry cutter about 1¼ inches (4 cm) in diameter, cut out 18 dough rounds [I use a drinking glass that’s about 2-3 inches in diameter]. Use the rounds to line 18 individual tartlet pans or the wells in tartlet trays or miniature muffin pans [we use miniature muffin pans]. If using the former, arrange the lined pans on a large baking sheet. Spray some PAM into the pan. Fill each lined pan with some Roquefort cheese, then with some of the egg mixture and scatter a few pine nuts on top. Place the tartlets in the oven and bake until the filling sets and the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.


Makes 18 tartlets; serves 6


 

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Daniel’s comments:

These are really good!  They do take some time, though. We’ve tried making them ahead of time and freezing them, but they weren’t as good.

From Williams-Sonoma  HORS D’OEUVRES & APPETIZERS