Four Cheese & Sundried Tomato Tarts

Sometimes you find recipe ideas in unlikely places. The idea for these Four Cheese & Sundried Tomato Tarts came from a cookbook that showcased dishes served in Irish Pubs. There's nothing about these tarts that screams "Irish cuisine" to me, but I'm willing to acquiesce because I know there's much about Irish cuisine that I'm ignorant about! I typically only think of Shepherd's Pie, Colcannon, and soda bread.

This recipe is great for a luncheon or light dinner, but I'm gonna give you the option for appetizers, too. Read on.

Let's begin with the crust.

Obviously, the base of this is the crust. I used a frozen puff pastry, but if you're into making it from scratch, you do that! That endeavor is still on my list of things to try.

In my part of the world, puff pastry comes in folded frozen sheets that are usually about nine inches square. Let the pastry sit folded at room temperature for about 30 minutes before trying to roll it out.

Let's ROLLL!

When you're ready to roll, flour your countertop or board, and put your sheet of dough on top. And start rolling!

You'll want to roll the 9x9 square out until it reaches 12x12. Turn it over and counterclockwise and few times to be sure it has enough flour to not stick to the board or your rolling pin. Be patient and gentle with the rolling and you'll end up with a near-perfect square.

How to form the tarts

Once you get the dough rolled out to a 12x12 square, cut it into fourths. That will give you 6x6 individual tarts.

Appetizer option!

You could also further cut each square into fourths, creating sixteen small squares. And that would give you small enough offerings for appetizers.

Form the tarts.

Working with one square at a time, egg wash the surface. That just means to whip an egg with a bit of water, milk, or cream and brush it onto the pastry.

Use a sharp knife or a bread lame, to score an "X" on the square being sure to only cut through the top layer.

Finally, pull the tip of each triangle back, starting at the center, rolling it to the edge.

Now that the filling is done, how do I fill it?

This is a four cheese tart. Three of the cheeses go in the middle and one is the topping.

We're using blue cheese, cheddar, and mozzarella for the filling and it's important to cut them pretty small ... crumble the blue cheese and cut the cheddar and mozzarella to about a quarter of an inch, or slightly smaller. The small cut gives them ample room to melt properly.

Mix those three cheeses with chopped sundried tomatoes and chopped red pepper.

Fill the Four Cheese & Sundried Tomato Tarts

Fill each of your prepared tarts with equal amounts of the cheese, sundried tomatoes, and red pepper mixture.

Finally, brush the rolled back pastry with egg wash.

The final touch

The final touch is a slice of goat cheese on top of the cheese and sundried tomato/pepper mixture. Put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

You want a crispy crust, melted cheese, and a golden edge on that goat cheese.

How to serve Four Cheese & Sundried Tomato Tarts

Well ... there's so many ways! But my first recommendation is a salad with a vinaigrette dressing. The tart seems to demand some acid and the vinaigrette delivers that. I used a basil pesto as well.

If you choose to make these as appetizers, cut each tart into fourths. I recommend topping the tarts with the greens, then drizzling with pesto.

Recipe