Goat Cheese and Tomato Tarts

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Today I wanted to post an appetizer. I’m a big fan of appetizers. They tend to be overlooked and under appreciated. My family sometimes just has an all appetizer night. There’s just something about finger foods that invoke a festive feeling.

I’m sure many of you have seen these tarts. I believe the Barefoot Bloggers group has made them. When I saw them in Joelen’s blog, it pushed me over the edge. I decided to make them when we had friends over for dinner.

While I was making these tarts, I was thinking, “Geesh Ina, what’s with all these ingredients” but I can say that the flavors in these tarts is worth the effort. Hubby agreed that these were amazing. You really can’t go wrong with goat cheese and tomatoes, so it’s really no surprise.

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Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts

Ingredients:

1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted
Good olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, sliced thin
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
4 ounces garlic-and-herb goat cheese
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped - I used cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves

Directions:

Unfold a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to an 11 by 11-inch square. Using a 3-inch wide round cookie cutter, cut 4 circles from the sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with the second pastry sheet to make 8 circles in all. Place the pastry circles on 1 large sheet pan lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium to low heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat.

Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and place 1/8 of the onion mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge. Crumble 1/2 ounce of goat cheese on top of the onions. Sprinkle the diced tomato in the center of each tart along with the basil, salt, and pepper.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Serve hot or warm.

Recipe from Ina Garten as seen on What's Cookin, Chicago

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11 Responses to “Caramelized Butternut Squash”

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    1
    Pam — November 15, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    I have been loving Butternut Squash more than ever this season, myself! Your pictures are lovely, and making me hungry!

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    2
    Lauren — November 15, 2010 at 1:01 pm

    I LOVE butternut squash… especially when roasted until slightly crisp on the outside. Your caramelized version looks great – I will need to add a touch of brown sugar and butter next time I make it.

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    3
    Boston Food Diary — November 15, 2010 at 3:45 pm

    YUM!!! I started my butternut squash kick this weekend- this looks amazing!

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    4
    Melissa — November 15, 2010 at 3:55 pm

    I have a butternut squash from my CSA that I’m dying to cut into. I have a question though, how does one peel a butternut squash?

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    5
    Jen — November 15, 2010 at 3:57 pm

    Melissa – I like to use a Y-shaped vegetable peeler to peel the skin off. You could do it with a knife, but I would be worried about cutting myself.

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    6
    Julie — November 15, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    Sounds like a fabulous way to prepare those squash. I’ll have to remember this for if we have another bumper crop next year!

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    7
    Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic — November 15, 2010 at 4:23 pm

    Hi Jen, nice seeing you again yesterday. I usually roast my butternut squash with brown sugar too but I can’t believe I never thought of adding butter! I usually omit the salt and pepper because I like it very dessert-like, so I add cinnamon too 🙂

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    8
    Paula — November 15, 2010 at 5:41 pm

    what a great blog!
    here is so many inspirations,

    have a nice time,
    Paula

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    9
    Megan — November 16, 2010 at 12:49 am

    I love butternut squash too. It’s definitely delicious with just a bit of brown sugar. Sometimes I go a bit overboard and roast it with a whole lot of butter, brown, sugar, and maple syrup.

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    10
    theblogisthenewblack — November 16, 2010 at 2:46 am

    This looks amazing! I love bn squash. I just made a fantastic soup, and now I want to carmelize it!

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    11
    Fun and Fearless in Beantown — November 19, 2010 at 5:29 pm

    This is such a simple way to cook butternut squash and yet SO delicious! I’m loving your butternut squash blog posts!

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