Tomato and Chorizo tart

Tags

chorizo, mozzarella, olives, puff pastry, tart, tomatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 sheet puff pastry
4 tablespoons pesto, green or red
1 ball mozzarella
4 to 5 tomatoes, sliced
Chorizo, about 16 thin slices
A few black olives, pitted
Oregano, fresh or dried
Herbs de Provence, a pinch
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F
Arrange your pastry either in a circle or rectangle on a baking sheet
Prick the pastry all over
Spread the pesto over the pastry
Slice the mozzarella thinly and lay the slices over the pesto
Arrange the tomato slices to cover all the pastry
Place the chorizo slices on top
Tear the olives and scatter over the pastry
Season with pepper, no salt due to the olives and chorizo both being salty
Sprinkle the herbs
Bake for about 20 minutes
Enjoy!

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Tomato, mozzarella and olive tart

Tags

fiesta friday, mozzarella, olives, quiche, tarts, tomato

This is so quick and easy to put together and looks and tastes great. Using a good quality mozzarella makes all the difference. I used Mozzarella di Bufala, or buffalo mozzarella, a mozzarella made from the milk of the domestic Italian water buffalo. I find it is not necessary to add salt to this tart as the olives are already rather salty but do add pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper if you desire. Kalamata olives are good to use as they are quite meaty and easier to pit than smaller olives. Of course if you buy already pitted olives, it is even easier. But, please do not use olives in tins or jars, do use fresh olives, they taste so much better and are firm and not mushy.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Puff pastry, blind baked
1 large coeur de boeuf tomato (beefsteak type – meaty and fleshy)
15 kalamata olives, pips removed and halved
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 to 2 balls of mozzarella, torn
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
6 basil leaves

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F
Slice the tomato and the onion
Arrange the tomato and the onion slices in the pre-cooked pastry shell
Dot with the olives
Add the torn mozzarella on top
Mix eggs with the cream, black and cayenne pepper
Pour into the pastry case
Bake for 30 minutes or until the tart is set
Add the basil leaves
Enjoy!

 

 

Italian quiche

Tags

Italian, mozzarella, mushrooms, quiche, quick meals

 One of my favorite quick meals is a quiche. I think it is one of the most versatile foods around. You really can use almost anything as a filling. This one is based on one I ate recently that was called “Italian”. Now, there is nothing especially Italian about a quiche, I would even say that it is a rather typically French dish but what makes this one Italian are the ingredients which are very Mediterranean in nature. It also does not require blind baking the pastry so it is really a quick meal. Without further ado, here is the recipe:

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
puff pastry, store bought works perfectly
150g /5oz diced ham
8 to 10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 small to medium yellow onion, sliced thinly
15 basil leaves, shredded
125g /4 1/2oz mozzarella
20cl / 6oz heavy cream
3 eggs
100g /4oz sun dried tomatoes in oil
Black olives (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 200C / 400F
Butter a 23cm / 9 inch tart dish or pie dish
Place the pastry in the dish, pressing gently with your fingers all around
Beat the eggs with the cream
Cut the mozzarella into pieces if using fresh or you can use grated
Thinly slice the sun dried tomatoes
Place the onions, mushrooms, ham, mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes and olives (optional) in the dish
Pour the egg and cream mixture over
Cook for 30 to 40 minutes
Scatter the basil leaves on just before serving
Enjoy!

Voila lunch. Serve with a green salad.