Strawberry, spinach and chèvre tarts

A savory, summery appetizer or light lunch!     

With this recipe, I’ve taken some favourite ingredients that I use often in salads and transformed them into little savory tarts that are super easy and quick to prepare. The tarts can be assembled ahead of time and baked right before serving, or you can bake them then serve a few hours later. Leftovers, once refrigerated, can also be enjoyed cold or gently reheated.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (about 1/2 lb or 225 g), thawed but still cold
• 1 – 2 tablespoons (8 – 16 g) all-purpose flour, for dusting
• 3/4 cup (3 oz / 85 g) crumbled chèvre
• 1 cup (165 g) sliced small fresh strawberries
• 1 cup (30 g) chopped fresh spinach leaves
• 1 tablespoon (3 g) chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) balsamic vinegar
• Few pinches sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• Additional chopped basil to garnish, if desired

Method

• Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Prepare the topping for the tarts by gently combining the strawberries, spinach, basil, olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Lightly flour both sides of the puff pastry then roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper (or on a lightly floured work surface) into a 12 x 15 inch (30 x 37.5 cm) rectangle. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Trim off any uneven edges then cut into 9 evenly-sized rectangles (each about 4 x 5 inches or 10 x 12.5 cm).
• With the tip of a smaller, sharp knife, lightly score each puff pastry rectangle about 1/3 inch (1 cm) in from the edge, trying not to cut all the way through the pastry (but don’t panic if you do accidentally cut through as it will likely self-heal while baking). Creating this border will allow the edge of the puff pastry to rise a bit more than the centre.
• Transfer the rectangles to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart.
• Place approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons (9.5 g) of the crumbled goat cheese on each pastry rectangle, taking care to keep it inside the scored border. Divide strawberry and spinach filling evenly among the tarts, spreading out to fill the space inside the border.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the berries and goat cheese have softened and the pastry is puffy and turning golden brown around the edges, about 12 – 15 minutes.
• Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with additional fresh basil if desired.

Makes 9 small tarts.