Goat Cheese, Sun Dried Tomato & Olive Tarts
Submitted by Joseph Sciascia
About the cook: I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and I’ve been a personal chef and caterer for the past 17 years. Since early childhood my passion for food and entertaining has come from a family owned catering business, since starting my own business in 2000, I have been self-taught with the desire to serve wonderful food in a delicious way, I have always enjoyed helping people entertain with style and with fun current food trends to good old fashioned comfort food from our childhood days. I also have a food blog called "Recipe For A Party" and I hope to have a cookbook published one day. www.recipeforaparty.com
About the dish: My recipe for these mini tartlets are one of my cocktail party favorites. Whenever I entertain, people request these little morsels of joy to nibble on while they have a glass of wine or a martini. They may be a small bite but they are big in flavor. I made them at a recent party and a guest mentioned that she must have ate an entire tray of them. The tanginess of the goat cheese combined with the sweetness of the sun dried tomatoes and the tartness of the olives are a perfect combination to please many people at so many different parties.
National Origin: Mediterranean
Serves: 8
Estimated Time: 30 to 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 teaspoons minced oregano
5 oz. softened goat cheese
1 egg
½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ cup Sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
¼ cup Chopped Kalamata olives, chopped
¼ cup Chopped pimento stuffed green olives, chopped
2 packages of phyllo tart shells (15 in each package)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat and add the shallot, garlic and oregano and sauté for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring, set aside and let cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the goat cheese, egg, pepper, salt and paprika
Add and mix in the sun dried tomatoes, and olives
Scoop by teaspoon into each phyllo cup and place on a parchment lined sheet pan
Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until puffy and golden
Makes 30 small tartlets, enough for 8 to 10 as an appetizer