Spinach, Tomato & Cheese Tart

mycookinghut May 6, 2011

Hello people! I am back! Time flew pass so quickly that my short break in Barcelona ended on Tuesday. So, now it’s back to normal life and still catching up with stuff. Oh yeah, I had a great time and am feeling refreshed and inspired. I think, apart from France, Spain is another country that I like. Food is great and of course, there’s no complaint about the weather even though there were 1 – 1.5 days of cloudy and slightly rainy days. Otherwise, I pretty much spent my time soaking up as much sun as I could and got myself a bit tanned!

Of course, I ate really well and tried out as many places as I could. I can’t wait to share with you about my trip – food and sights, not so much of shopping. Well, not sure when will be the next holiday, but for now, it’s time for me to get back on track in the food blogging world!

Now that we are in May, the weather in London especially, has been pretty dry, sunny and pleasant. I can’t wait for the summer to come, which is my favourite season. Not only because it will be warm (which I really hope it will), but I will get to eat a lot of my favourite fruits – all kinds of berries! I think, I am going to make sure that I eat enough amount this year and try to make some into jam, perhaps. Gosh, really can’t wait. I already have ideas how I am going to use all the berries.

spinach-tomato-cheese-tart

Just before I went on vacation, I made a tart that I wanted to share. But, I didn’t have enough time to post, my bad. So, today, I am sharing a tart with 2 of my favourite ingredients: spinach and tomato; with 2 types of cheeses: ricotta and mozzarella. Sounds really simple but the flavour is superb! I didn’t make my own puff pastry but got a really good quality one that is made with French butter.

This tart is really simple to make and it’s really great to serve as lunch during warm spring/summer. Besides, it looks colourful too! Actually, the 3 main colours of an Italian flag! Looks pretty mediterranean, right? I love cheese and I think, in the recent years, I have discovered and tasted different cheeses that I had previously not tasted or known. Guess, in the future, I am going to share with you guys some of my favourite cheeses, what do you all think?

 

Spinach, Tomato & Cheese Tart

Yield: 3-4 persons

Ingredients:

250g vine-ripened cheery tomatoes
2 tbsps olive oil
150g spinach
1 x 375g ready rolled all butter puff pastry
100g ricotta cheese
130g mozzarella cheese, roughly chopped
salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut some of the tomatoes in half lengthways and keep some whole. Place them in a shallow roasting tin, drizzle over 1 tbsp of the olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for 5 – 7 minutes or until they start to shrivel in size. Remove from the oven and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil, tip in the spinach and blanch for a few seconds until slightly wilted. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Squeeze out as much moisture as possible, put in a bowl and set aside.

3. Make sure the oven is still at 200°C. Unwrap pastry on baking paper provided and line on to a baking tray. Score a 1cm border around the edge of the pastry and slightly prick the base with a fork. Blind bake for 5-7 minutes or until the pastry start to turn light brown. Remove from the oven.

4. Arrange the cherry tomatoes on the partially cooked puff pastry. Then, scatter the spinach all over the pastry. In a bowl, mix the ricotta and mozzarella cheese, scatter about 1 tsp of the cheese mixture all over the pastry. Drizzle the rest of the olive oil all over.

5. Return the tart to the oven to further cook for 8 – 10 minutes until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and cut into smaller pieces, serve warm with mixed salad leaves, if liked.