Fig and Blue Cheese Tart with Prosciutto

March 26th, 2011

Fig and Blue Cheese Tart with Prosciutto

Can I just start by talking about short crust pastry. Maggie Beer is famous for her sour cream short crust which I have made a few times but to be really frank when you have a lot going on there is nothing wrong with using a decent quality frozen short crust from the supermarket. I find that the frozen stuff is much better for smaller tarts like these. So honestly if you cant be bothered making shortcrust then don’t.

This recipe is for a fantastic tart I love to use as a starter. You can actually make it as one big tart but I bought these incredible little tart cases that are non-stick and perfect in size. Plus they have a push through removable base and they were only a few dollars each. One of the best things I have bought.

Recipe: Fig and Blue Cheese Tarts with Prosciutto

Ingredients

1 package-about 10 oz Prepared puff pastry, thawed
150 grams of decent blue cheese, I use stilton, at room temperature
1/2 Tbsp of cream
1/2 Tbsp of milk, full cream
1/2 Tsp freshly ground pepper
4 figs stemmed and cut in quarters lengthwise. If you are making one big tart you will need a few more.
1/2 Tsp fresh thyme leaves finely chopped
Olive oil
4 thin slices of prosciutto, julienned into strips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Trace around the tart tins on your pastry and carefully fit them into the tine. Don’t cut the excess off with a knife, use a rolling pin you will get a better result.
Chill the pastry cases for 10 minutes in the freezer
Place baking paper in each case adn then cover the inside with rice or baking weights
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, remove the weights then bake another 5 minutes to dry the bases out
Combine cheese, milk, cream and pepper in a bowl, mash with a fork.
Spread the cheese mix evenly in pastry cases.
Arrange figs over cheese, alternating cut side up and cut side down, or get creative.
Sprinkle with thyme and olive oil.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until crust is lightly golden and figs are shiny and a little puffed up.
Let them stand for about 15 minutes to settle then serve with proscuitto on top.