Pear goes wonderfully well with blue cheese and these tarts are a winner with everyone.
Ingredients
- 500g pack puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
- 15g butter
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 150g Cambozola (or Bavarian blue for a stronger taste), cubed
- 2 pears, sliced
- 2 tbsp double cream
- 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs to garnish
- 4 tbsp walnut oil
- 11/2 tbsp lemon juice
- Mixture of bitter lettuce leaves, such as chicory or radicchio
- 30g walnut pieces
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Roll the pastry into a 30 x 20cm rectangle. Cut in half lengthways, then make 2 cuts widthways, to give 6 equal squares. Brush each square with the egg and score a square inside the pastry, leaving a 1cm border. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- 2. Using a spoon, lift out and discard the inner square of pastry, and scoop out any uncooked pastry.
- 3. Heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. When melted, fry the onion until slightly browned.
- 4. Mix the onion, Cambozola, pear, cream, thyme and seasoning.
- 5. Fill each pastry square with a generous tablespoon of the filling and bake for a further 5 minutes.
- 6. Mix the walnut oil and lemon juice and toss with the salad and walnuts. Garnish each square with a thyme sprig and serve with the salad.