Goats' Cheese, Cherry Tomato & Tapenade Tart

       

   So, we love goats' cheese, tomato and olives...hmmm...so I came up with this super quick tart that both of demolished within minutes of it coming out of the oven. It came out so tasty, flaky, crispy...well perfect! I made our own tapenade but you can find it already made or you could even substitute it with pesto if you like (do not use the same quantity though as it has a stronger taste. We also used a mixture of coloured cherry tomatoes (red, purple & yellow) but you can use only red ones if you cannot find multicoloured ones. Oh yes, the goats' cheese, although it is not a melty cheese, it give this tart the delicious unique flavour that goats' cheese has. I also used a ready made puff pastry sheet but you can also make your own obviously but ready made pastry is fine if you're in a hurry.  

      Tapenade usually is a bit oily and runny and this ruin your tart by making the pastry too soggy, so what I have done I just added some pumpkin seed to the mixture so they can act as a thickener. If pumpkin seed are hard to come by, you can also use sunflower seed. Whatever seed you use, they will give your tapenade a nutty taste to your tart. So, give this a go and am quite sure you will love it and so will your family and friends. You will need...

For the tapenade

• 4 tablespoon green pitted olives
• 5 giant capers or 1 tablespoon small capers
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seed
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Pinch dried oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 5 tablespoons (75ml) extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the tart

• 1 ready made puff pastry sheet
• 150g multicoloured cherry tomatoes, cut in half (red ones only will do)
• 125g soft goats' cheese, sliced or crumbled
• Rocket (Arugula) leaves
• Extra virgin olive oil
  

How to...

1. Start by preheating the oven to 200°C.
2. Next up let's prepare the tapenade by blending all the ingredients in a food processor or stick blender (that's what I used) until you get a homogeneous smooth mixture. 
3. Unroll the pastry sheet onto a baking sheet or large baking tray covered with greaseproof paper. I trickled some olive oil before I put my pastry on.
4. Spread the tapenade evenly on the pastry leaving about an inch from each side. Top up with the split cherry tomatoes, add the goats' cheese, add some olive oil and bake in the hot oven for about 25 minutes.
5. After 25 minutes take out of the oven, let cool down for 5 minutes and add rocket/arugula leaves and serve warm.

Enjoy!!

R&A