Blackberry and Goat’s Cheese Tarts

A special Valentine’s Day meal doesn’t need to mean hours spent prepping in the kitchen.

Free up time to spend with your loved ones with this quick and easy tart that’s straightforward enough even for the amateur chef.

Serves: 2 – 4                                                                                                               Prep time: 35 mins

You’ll need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 15g (1/2 oz) butter
• 2 red onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 150g (5oz) blackberries
• 3 stems fresh thyme, leaves torn from stems, plus a little extra for garnish
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 12oz packet (or 375g) ready rolled chilled puff pastry, or defrosted if frozen
• Beaten egg, for glazing
• 100g (4oz) goat’s cheese, cut into 4 thin slices

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan), Gas Mark 6. Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes, stirring until softened. Add the sugar and fry for 5 minutes, stirring more frequently until lightly browned.
2. Mix in the blackberries and thyme then season with salt and pepper.
3. Unroll the pastry then cut 4 heart shapes, transfer to a wetted baking sheet and prick the centre of each heart with a fork, leaving a border about 2cm (3/4 inch) all the way round. Create your heart approximately 5×5 inches by cutting into the pastry with a knife, or create a template from baking paper or a piece of card for uniformity.
4. Brush the pastry with beaten egg then pile the onion and blackberry mix in the centre of each pastry heart. Bake for 10 minutes until the pastry is well risen and lightly browned.
5. Top each with a slice of goats cheese, a few extra thyme leaves and some salt and pepper. Bake for 4-5 minutes more until the cheese has just softened and the pastry is cooked.
6. Meanwhile, fork the vinegar, oil, sugar and mustard together in a bowl to make a dressing.  Add a little salt and pepper then the salad leaves and raspberries and gently toss together.

Finishing touches

These tarts are great as a starter or a main course – arrange one heart per starter serving, or use two for a main.

Serve it with a side salad of mixed rocket, spinach and watercress, along with a handful of raspberries for garnish. For dressing simply mix together 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1⁄2 teaspoon caster sugar and 1⁄2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Drizzle over the salad and serve.

Recipe from Love Fresh Berries

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Rachel - Silversurfers Assistant Editor

Hello there! I’m Rachel and I’m the Assistant Editor for Silversurfers. I work behind the scenes to bring interesting, informative and entertaining subject matter to the Silversurfers community. I hope you enjoy the features we have shared with you. Please feel free to comment below and share your thoughts with us, we love to hear from you!

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