Italian Cheese And Red Pesto Tartlets

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 1 (3 ounce) jar store-bought red pesto sauce or 1 (3 ounce) jar sun-dried tomato puree (or make your own)
• 1 large tomato, peeled,seeded,and chopped
• 9 black olives, pitted and quartered
• 1 cup grated fontina or 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 2 -3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 -3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons cold water

Recipe

• 1 make the pastry: put the flour in a bowl, add the butter and rub in with the fingertips.
• 2 add enough water to bind to a soft dough.
• 3 cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• 4 make the tartlet shells: sprinkle a work surface with flour, then roll out the short crust pastry to a 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.
• 5 cut out 12 rounds from the pastry, using a 4" pastry cutter (or jar lid).
• 6 fold up the edges of the rounds to form rims; put on a baking sheet.
• 7 spread the red pesto in the tartlet shells, then fill the shells with the tomato, garlic, black olives, and fontina cheese.
• 8 sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese over the tartlets, covering the pastry edges as well as the filling.
• 9 sprinkle the dried oregano on top.
• 10 bake the tartlets in a 400* oven for 20-30 minutes, until the edges of the tartlets are golden brown in color and the parmesan cheese topping has melted and become crispy.
• 11 serve the tartlets warm or cold.
• 12 variation: substiitute 3 oz.
• 13 store-bought green pesto for the red pesto and 12 slices from a log of goat cheese for the grated fontina.
• 14 proceed as directed.