A lovely lunch or light dinner: Tomato-Cheese Tartlet with steamed, chilled lentils and baby beets lying on an arugula bed. In the spirit of full disclosure, while the adults enjoyed their lunch, Clara opted for macaroni-and-cheese.
French Friday turned into an oops! moment last week as the day swept by without our even realizing my Dorista duties were beckoning. Let’s put the blame directly where it belongs…..at the feet of the nine-year-old cutie pie who was visiting me.
Since her Dad and 11-year-old sister, were hiking/camping the Pacific Crest Trail last week, she and her Mom decided to jump in the car and dash over to Grandma’s house. Never mind Nevada’s 111-degree heat. Our days were jam-packed with back-to-school shopping, craftwork (beading), jig saws (three 500-piece puzzles), swimming, nutritious meals tilted by tasty, sugary treats, all interspersed with cheering on the Americans (and, the Brits) at the Olympics and playing Jeopardy! (It was Kids Week and Clara held her own against the eleven-year-olds and, unfortunately, also her Mom and Grandmother.)
Needing to roll out the thawed puff pastry to a 13″ square, Clara grabbed the tape measure to be precise. A grandchild after her grandmother’s heart.
But Saturday morning, we got busy, pulled the puff pastry out of the freezer, waved our wand and created Tomato-Cheese Tartlets, an easy but showy pastry concoction that highlights the seasonal tomato harvest.
The technique to be learned this week, to my mind, is in the puff magic. ( I would sooooo like to finesse some dragon allusions into this week’s Post but am refraining from the obvious.) “These tartlets,” Dorie explains, “are built on a base of puff pastry that’s been weighted down so that it bakes to a flat crisp. These flat, rather sturdy discs can be grown into whatever you have on hand or want to pile on top of them.
Using a bowl with a diameter of 6″ as a guide, Clara used the point of a paring knife to score and then cut out 4 rounds of dough.
For this week’s recipe, spread the baked, browned pastry base with tapenade or pesto. Then overlap circles of heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella dressed in olive oil or aged, drippy and languid balsamic vinegar. I preferred to let my cheese melt just a smidgen so I placed it in the oven for a few minutes before dressing it.
Lay the rounds on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Prick each disc carefully with a fork so the puff pastry won’t even think about puffing.
Place the cookie sheet with pricked rounds in the oven, cover the top with parchment paper before placing another cookie sheet on top to weigh the pastry down.
Pop a bit of basil on top. It’s lunch or a light dinner. It’s lovely.
By far the most difficult part of this recipe is deciding what to do with the puff pastry scraps. Wouldn’t it be a shame to toss those morsels in the trash? Clara and her mom decided to rescue the leftovers from such a fate. Using a crystal Lalique wine glass as her cookie cutter (Yes, I blanched at that but said not-a-word.), Clara made twelve pastry rounds, brushed each one lightly with melted butter, sprinkled them heavily with Grandma’s ample stash mixture of cinnamon-sugar-and-chopped walnuts and baked until brown and puffy.
“The best part of the meal,” she declared.
You were lucky to have such a cute helper for this meal! I love what she did with the pastry scraps and I also think you chose great sides to go with your pretty tartlets.
The tartlets look delicious;). Great pictures. I love what you did with the puff pastry scrapes.
What a wonderful week for both of you! And great that you cooked together, too. You cinnamon treats look great. Enjoy your week!
Mary, How nice to bake with your granddaughters…it sounds like they were quite capable in the kitchen! Your tartlets came out lovely but, I really love the cinnamon treats that you made! My mom used to do that with scraps of dough when I was a kid.
Ooooh, I love the fact that you servedyour tarts with beets – I have a soft spot for beets. And the cinnamon sugar pastries sound delightful.
I would rather eat late if I got to eat with such a helper! Mmm… cinnamon treats! Now that is a great idea!
Everything looks delicious and having little helping hands makes it special. Love the
cinnamon treats, I just baked them into twists and had them with a little butter.
I was away at Blogher this week and didn’t make the tartlets. They really look delicious and a nice project with the young one. I love the cookies that Clara and her mom made… see it is through thrift that great things are born.
Mary, what a wonderful weekend you spend with your granddaughter Clara and your daughter – it makes my heart jump to read that you had such a wonderful time!!! Your Tartlets look wonderful and summery and I also admire the use you found for the puff pastry dough scraps.
It was also good to see that Betsy and yourself have been named second administrators for the group. All will be well now.
P.S.: I wanted to ask you a little favor. If you had time to bake the Cookies and happen to have taken some pictures, I would like to post a link to your blog (with picture) on my newly created facebook page. Thanks, Mary!
When in doubt, blame the grandchild:-)
Seeing that picture of tasty little cinnamon sugar puff pastry rounds I’m wishing that your grandchild had been over at my place when I was making last week’s recipe. Brilliant idea and one which I plan to steal.
How fun to bake together! Glad you both enjoyed the Bisquick cookies, too… which reminds me, I think I’m due for a batch or two this week. 😉
Love these tarts and also the creative use of the scraps – both look fantastic!
It sounds like you had your priorities perfectly correct 🙂 Those days pass so quickly, I think you have to grab up every second you can.
Runner Girl has been spending a lot of time with my parents before she goes off to school (13 days). They both seem to have the need to soak up as many moments as possible before little birdie flies the coop. This week’s highlight was her teaching them how to use the effects on her Mac to make pictures of her grandfather look like an alien. Sigh.
Double sigh!
I love those sweet helping hands! I didn’t have any scraps because I didn’t cut out any circles! But, your cookie scraps do look good and I know my grandchildren would be all over those treats;-) I like these easy Dorie recipes, they are for the most part excellent and this one was a definite keeper;-)
Sounds like you guys had a great time! The tartlets look great and the sweet leftover are a stroke of genius!
what great use of your “scraps!”
Clara’s cinnamon sugar puffs look excellent!