Tomato & Goat Cheese Tartlettes

I'm in love with these tomato & goat cheese tarts! This week's Barefoot Bloggers recipe was chosen by Anne of Anne Strawberry...and I'm gonna have to say that this is one of my favorite Ina recipes (that I've made) to date! Ina uses frozen puff pastry...hallelujiah...so when I was at the market to pick up a few ingredients, I figured I would pick up some sheets of it in the freezer section. WRONG! They were on sale this week (yay!), but they were all gone...waa, waaa, waaaa. On the other hand, they had the box with the individual (6) shells of puff pastry (also on sale), so I picked up a couple boxes of those. Basically, I ended up making mini-tarts. They were so perfect as little appetizers or to have a couple with a nice salad as a meal! I will make these again, in any size...often.

Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts

adapted from Back to Basics by Ina Garten

1 pkg puff pastry, defrosted

4 c. thinly sliced yellow onions

3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers

salt & pepper

3 Tbs dry white wine

2 tsp minced, fresh thyme leaves

4 Tbs freshly grated Parmesan cheese

4 oz garlic & herb goat cheese

1 large tomato, cut into 4 (1/4" thick) slices

3 Tbs julienned Basil leaves

2 oz Parmesan cheese, shaved w/ a vegetable peeler

Unfold sheet of puff pastry on lightly floured surface & roll lightly to an 11x11" square. Using a 6" wide round object as guide, cut 2 circles from each sheet or simply place the convenient, already formed mini shells on pan. Place on parchment lined sheet pan(s).

Preheat oven to 425° F par bake if using mini shells.

Heat 3 Tbs of olive oil in large skillet over medium to low heat and ad the onions and garlic. Saute for 15-20 minutes, stirring, until onions are limp and almost no moisture remains. Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, the wine & thyme and continue to cook until onions are caramelized. Remove from heat.

Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4" wide border around each pastry circle or use the pre-fab shells for minis, like I did. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a Tbs. of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside scored border.

Evenly divide onion mixture over each circle. Now do the same w/ the goat cheese and tomatoes. Lightly brush each w/ olive oil Sprinkle w/ basil, salt and pepper. Scatter a few shards of Parmesan on each tart.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until pastry is golden brown. Serve hot or warm. I thought they were pretty good chilled, too!

Seriously...these were killer! You know that flakiness of the pastry and the sweetness of the caramelized onions with the melt-in-your-mouth, warm goat cheese...rich and addicting.

Check out what more Barefoot Bloggers did with this Ina recipe here!

update 6/26/11: I am sharing this with Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays: Appetizers