Individual Summer Vegetable Tarts

I made these last week to take along to a get together hosted by Lydia Bakes.  We all have quite the sweet tooth so I thought something savoury would go down well to combat all the sugar we would be eating (check out the sweet Berry Tarts I made for the catch up too).
I made these Summer Vegetable Tarts from scratch, baking my own pastry cases, but you could easily buy some pre-made from the supermarket which would make these really quick and easy to whip up.  Also, feel free to change up the vegetable mix to include your favourites or what you have on hand.

Ingredients:
Pastry cases:
1 ⅓  cups flour
pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice cold water

Vegetable filling:
1 bunch asparagus
1 kumara, chopped into chunks
½ pumpkin, chopped into chunks
12 cherry tomatoes
4 – 6 Portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
salt
pepper
200g haloumi cheese
25g feta, crumbled
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
12 small sprigs of rosemary

Method:
Pastry cases:
In a food processor, combine the flour and salt by pulsing the mixture in 2 second bursts.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix the egg with a tablespoon of water.  Add the egg to the flour mixture, pulsing again until just combined, adding the extra water if needed to bring the pastry together to forma soft dough.
On a lightly floured surface, shape the mixture into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for about an hour, or until firm.
Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll the pastry mixture out to about 2mm thick.  Cut out rounds from the pastry, about 6cm in diameter (I used a drinking glass for this).  Place the pastry rounds into the prepared muffin holes and press into place.  Prick the bottom of each pastry case with a fork.
Cut out squares of baking paper (or use muffin papers) and line each pastry case before filling each with uncooked rice or baking weights.  Place the prepared tin of pastry cases into the freezer for 5 – 10 minutes (or the fridge for 30 minutes) to become cool again and firm up.
Bake for 10 minutes.  Take the cases out of the oven and remove the paper and baking weights before returning to the oven for a further 2-5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Filling:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Place the vegetables (kumara, pumpkin, asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms) in a couple of roasting trays, coat the vegetables in the oil, dried herbs, and salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables until tender. 
While the vegetables are roasting, cut the haloumi into slices, about 0.5cm thick and fry in a frying pan until lightly golden on both sides.
Once the vegetables been roasted and taken out of the oven to cool slightly, cut the vegetables (excluding the tomatoes) into small, little chunks (0.5cm pieces).  Crumb the feta cheese and mix it together with the roasted vegetables.
Place a piece of haloumi in the bottom of each pastry case.  Top with the roasted vegetable mix.
Beat together the egg and water.  Brush the egg wash over the vegetables in the tart cases.  Bake for a further 10 minutes.  Once out of the oven, top each tart with a sprig of rosemary and a cherry tomato.

Lunchbox Bakes - Sundried Tomato + Cream Cheese Muffins

This is a nice recipe for savoury muffins which have a little bit of cream cheese and tomato hidden inside.  Delicious.  The muffins are alright to freeze too.
When working with sundried tomatoes I like to use an oil free variety; I like the flavour better and they aren’t as chewy.

3 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 eggs
1 cup milk
75g butter, melted
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

Filling:
125g sundried tomato cream cheese
or
115g cream cheese mixed with 5-6 chopped sundried tomatoes

Topping:
3-4 sundried tomatoes, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Lightly grease a 10 hole muffin pan.
Sift the flour and baking powder together in large bowl.  Add the sugar, salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs, milk and butter together in another bowl.  Add the parsley and stir into the dry ingredients until just mixed.
Place a large tablespoon of muffin mix in the base of each muffin tin.  Divide the filling mixture into 10 pieces and place on top of the muffin mix.  Cover with the remaining muffin mix and top with the chopped sundried tomatoes.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin pans.

For more healthy recipes and lunch ideas check out our Lunchbox Bakes page!

Lunchbox Bakes – Feta, Pesto + Sundried Tomato Pockets

These little parcels are sooo good.  They are something different and delicious for lunch, or you could make them as a light dinner and serve them with salad.  This is another one of those recipes where the food is easy to make but looks impressive – that’s always a winner in my books!

Makes 4

2 square sheets of pre-made puff pastry
200g feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon pesto
4 large sundried tomatoes (I use the Oil Free Delmaine variety)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Black pepper for seasoning

Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Cut each of the pastry squares in half.  In a bowl mix together the feta and pesto plus a sprinkling of black pepper.
Divide the feta mixture between the four pieces of pastry.  Place a sun dried tomato on top of the feta then fold over the pastry to encase the filling.  Press down on the edges with a fork to seal the filing in.  Brush the tops with the egg then bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Click here to read more about our Lunchbox Bakes feature and find out how you can be involved.

Roast Tomato & Broad Bean Salad with Haloumi

I know, not baking, but hey – wotcha gonna do?  Simon and I made this last weekend to go with our dinner before we had the Raspberry and Ricotta Cakes.  The recipe comes from Foodtown Magazine, issue 56, December 2010 / January 2011.

Serves 12 as part of a buffet.

250g punnet of mini tomatoes, halved
olive oil spray
salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g packet frozen broad beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
125g haloumi, sliced into ½ cm thick slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
130g packet baby spinach leaves
½ cup balsamic dressing

Preheat oven to 200˚C.  Place the tomato halves on a baking tray lined with baking paper.  Spray with the olive oil spray and season with the salt and pepper.  Roast the tomatoes for 20 minutes or until they are soft and lightly browned.  Remove the tray from the oven and set it aside for the tomatoes to cool.

Meanwhile, bring a medium sized saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil.  Add the frozen broad beans, bring back to the boil and blanch the beans for one minute.  Drain, run the beans under cold water to cool, then peel them.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.  Add the haloumi slices and cook them for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden.  Sprinkle the cooked haloumi with the lemon juice.

Place the baby spinach on a serving platter.  Top with the tomatoes, broad beans and haloumi.  Drizzle over the balsamic dressing and serve immediately.

*Gluten free, Diabetes friendly :)