Onion & Sundried Tomato Tartlets | (Rough) Puff Pastry Time

When I saw the Baking Partners Challenge for January, I loved the recipe for sun dried tomato & onion tart. It was easy peasy to make. Only 1 hinge was there. Puff Pastry. 

Puff Pastry is available in India, especially Bangalore. Only you have to buy in bulk.

 Which of course I didnt. So I opened my dusty bookmarks folder wherein I had stored all the wanted-to-do recipes and found Aparna's Apple Tartlets with Rough Puff Pastry. She had used the rough puff pastry recipe by Gordon Ramsay. I too embarked on the same and got good results.Its not exactly puff pastry but you won't be disappointed.

I didnot take good pictures with the rough puff pastry so I will be just linking the recipe to the original. The tartlets turned out great. Ofcourse I made slight adjustments here and there but still I loved it. It was also the first thing that I tried in my new OTG. 

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry Sheets: 1 -2 thawed. (I used Gordon Ramsay's recipe via Aparna)

Onion: 3 cups thinly sliced

Olive Oil: 1 tbsp

Thyme : 1/2 tsp -1 tsp or fresh few sprigs

Salt : to taste

Sugar: 1/2 tsp (optional) (helps in caramelizing onions)

Dijon Mustard: 1 tbsp

Cream : 1 tbsp (I used chilled low fat Amul cream)

Grated Cheddar Cheese: 1/2 cup +/- 

Sun Dried Tomatoes: 1/4 cup +/-  roughly chopped.

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Cut the puff pastry sheets into rectangles and place in a baking sheet. Prick the surface of with a fork leaving the borders untouched. 

Bake for about 8-10 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned.Take out and cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, saute the onions in oil adding salt,thyme and little sugar. Sugar is optional but helps in browning fast. Also salt added at the beginning ensures that the onion sweat more and cook fast thus reducing the oil needed.

While the pastry is baking and later cooling and the onions are sweating, chop the sundried tomatoes and mix together the mustard and the cream. I used the mustardy cream very scantily as my family is not a fan of either.

Once the pastry rectangles are cool enough to handle, brush the mustard cream sauce on top, top with onions,cheese and sundried tomatoes. If you are going for bigger tarts then you can go for layers as well.

Return the tartlets back on tray and bake for few minutes or so till the cheese melts.

The melting time varies based on the cheese used and the size of the tart. I just kept for barely 5 minutes and took out as soon as it started melting. You can continue melting until the cheese is lightly browned.

Take out and enjoy warm. Perfect for tea time, but not for the calorie conscious.

Slightly tangy from the tomatoes and the hint of mustard, cheesy and crunchy onions and buttery flaky pastry will definitely make your day.

So this also goes as a late entry to Baking Partners January Challenge . Hope Swathi will accept.