PHOTO: Jacqui Melville ©
“It’s best to use a sweet apple for this recipe to complement the tanginess of the cheese, so try a Braeburn or Royal Gala instead of Granny Smith or Cox’s. You can either bake this as individual tarts – as I have done – or as a traybake, in which case just roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle.” – Apple by James Rich
GOAT’S CHEESE, APPLE AND HONEY TARTS
Makes 10 | Prep 25 mins | Cook 30-40 mins
75 g (2½ oz) unsalted butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
½ sprig of rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped
2 x 320 g (10¼ oz) packs of ready-made puff-pastry
a little plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting
1 egg, beaten
For the cheese topping:
200 g (7 oz) goat’s cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 crisp eating (dessert) apples, such as Braeburn, peeled, cored and sliced
pinch of ground allspice
4 tablespoons runny honey
micro purple basil
METHOD:
Preheat a fan oven to 180°C (350°F/gas 6) and line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Heat a saucepan over a medium heat and melt half the butter. Add the onion and rosemary and fry until the onion begins to brown. Leave to one side.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 5 mm (¼ in) thick. Using a round, 10 cm (4 in) biscuit (cookie) cutter, cut out 20 rounds. Place 10 on the prepared baking sheet and prick all over with a fork.
Make pastry rings by cutting smaller rounds into the remaining 10 pieces of pastry using a 9 cm (3½ in) biscuit cutter. Then, take out the centre sections and save for another recipe. Brush the whole rounds on the baking sheet with the beaten egg, and then place a pastry ring on each one. Pop in the freezer for 15 minutes to cool.
To make the cheese topping, put the goat’s cheese, lemon juice and some salt and pepper into a bowl and mix with a fork. Avoid over-mixing as you want the cheese to still be crumbly.
Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mix onto each piece of pastry, then top with the sliced apple, overlapping slightly.
Melt the remaining butter and brush it over the tarts. Sprinkle over the allspice.
Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes until golden brown. When the tarts are out of the oven, drizzle with the honey and micro purple basil while still warm and serve.
– Extracted from Apple by James Rich (Hardie Grant £20)
GO TO: jamesrichcooks.com
‘CIDER, CHEESE & CHUTNEY’ EVENING…
To celebrate The Great British Harvest, James has teamed up with British Standard by Plain English to host a ‘cider, cheese & chutney’ evening at their Hoxton showroom.
WHEN: Thursday 17th October between 7pm – 9pm
WHERE: British Standard Cupboards, 41 Hoxton Square, N1 6PB
DETAILS: As well as sampling British cheese, homemade cider and chutneys, James will explain all about the importance of British apples, their many varieties, the apple harvest and even how you can start a mini orchard in your own garden. Plus a recipe demonstration from his new book.
TICKETS: £30 | Booking necessary via Eventbrite HERE
DISCLAIMER: We endeavour to always credit the correct original source of every image we use. If you think a credit may be incorrect, please contact us at [email protected]
Inspiration/Image Credits: Whole Food Cooking Every Day by Amy Chaplin (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2019. Photographs by Anson Smart
