As promised, here is the recipe for the simple tarts I made last week for my “Girls’ Night In”:

Ingredients:

To make 24 you will need

250g plain flour

125g salted butter

Ice cold water to bind

2 logs of soft goats cheese (I use Delamere Dairy, because it’s local and we like it!)

Chopped walnuts

Method:

Make the shortcrust pastry. I must admit for things like these quick tarts I use the food processor. Simply pop the flour and butter in the processor, pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add the ice cold water through the feed tube a few drops at a time until the pastry is combined but not soggy. It’s impossible to give an exact quantity, it depends on the flour you use, the temperature of your kitchen and so many other factors that it’s really down to experience. Knead the pastry quickly on a floured board then put in the fridge to cool and relax.*

Roll out the pastry on a floured board, use a large cutter or glass to cut circles into pastry and use these to line the bun trays. I like to put a paper cake case in each tart and weigh down with lentils or beans, then after 20 minutes resting in the fridge I bake them blind in a hot oven for about 10 minutes (or until the pastry looks dry but not browned).

Remove the paper cases and lentils. Pop slices of cheese in each tart, top with chopped walnuts and bake in a hot oven for about 15 – 20 minutes or until the cheese has just begun to brown.

These will last for a few days in the fridge and freeze well too. Though in our house they rarely make it to a storage tin as Mr T and the Teen will happily gobble them up straight from the oven if I let them!
* There some great baking and pastry tips on BBC’s Get Baking