No Fuss Bacon And Brie Tart Food

CRANBERRY BRIE TARTS WITH BACON & RED ONION

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Using a cookie cutter a little larger than your tartlet pan sections, cut 12 rounds out of the pastry.
• Press each round into a tartlet section set aside.
• If you haven't done so already, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside on a paper towel.
• Remove excess grease from the pan leaving about a tablespoon to cook the onions in. Cook the onions until soft. Add the brown sugar, and cook on medium-low heat another 4 or 5 minutes to caramelize (being careful not to burn them).
• Place 2 teaspoons of cranberry jelly into each section, followed by a teaspoon of the sautéed onions.
• Remove the crust from the top of the cheese. Use a teaspoon to scoop the cheese out, place two teaspoons of cheese into each section.
• Top with the bacon.
• Bake about 15-20 minutes or until puff pastry is browned
• Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

BRIE AND PROSCIUTTO TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a food processor, process pecans until finely chopped. Add flour and sugar; cover and pulse until blended. Add butter; cover and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk, water and mustard. While processing, gradually add egg yolk mixture until dough forms a ball., Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 14x4-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Bake 18-22 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack., In a large skillet, saute shallots in oil until tender. Add spinach; cook 1-2 minutes longer or until wilted. Remove and set aside to cool., Meanwhile, in the same skillet, cook prosciutto over medium heat until slightly crisp. Remove to paper towels; drain. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and seasonings. Spoon spinach mixture into crust; pour egg mixture over top. Top with prosciutto and cheese., Bake 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with thyme. Serve warm.Freeze option: Before topping with thyme, securely wrap and freeze cooled tart in plastic wrap and foil. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Unwrap quiche; reheat in oven until heated through and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°. Sprinkle with thyme.

BACON BRIE TARTS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375.
• 2. Spray 24 mini muffin tins with oil.
• 3. Roll out the crescent rolls and press the seams to seal.
• 4. Cut into 24 equal squares and place one in each muffin tin.
• 5. Cut the brie into 24 cubes.
• 6. Add 1 cube of brie, a sprinkle of bacon and a sprinkle of brown sugar in each tin.
• 7. Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from pan to a serving platter. Good served warm or room temperature.

MUSSEL, BACON & BRIE TARTLETS

Steps:

• Rub the butter, flour and parmesan together in a bowl until the mixture has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg mix and quickly bring it all together into a dough. Knead lightly a few times with floured hands until smooth. Shape into a flat ball, cover in cling film and chill for at least 1 hr.
• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Roll the pastry out to the thickness of a £1 coin and line eight 10cm x 3cm tartlet tins. Fill with greaseproof paper and baking beans, and bake for 7-10 mins until the pastry feels dry. Remove beans and paper, then bake for 2-3 mins, until lightly golden. Leave to cool.
• Reduce oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion for 3 mins until softened, but not coloured. Add the garlic and bacon, and cook for 2-3 mins. Allow to cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and cream with the chives, then fold in the onion, bacon and mussels. Season to taste. Set the cases on a baking sheet. Spoon the mix in and scatter the brie over the top, pushing into the mix here and there. Bake for 12-15 mins until the filling is just firm and golden. Serve warm with dressed leaves.

NO-FUSS FRUIT TART

Steps:

• This is perhaps one of the most useful desserts you can have in your repertoire. Not that it is the job of a dessert to be useful: a dessert exists merely to delight. Still, dinner does need to be made, even when there's precious little time for it, and that should be a delight, too. So here's the deal: there is pitifully little work to be done to make this berry-dazzler of a tart, and enormous pleasure to be derived from its consumption.
• All you do is bash a few graham crackers a day or so in advance and make the base - getting one course out of the way early is my way of managing - then stir lemon curd and cream cheese together, and use this cream to line the crumb-covered tart pan. I use store-bought lemon curd here, but even if it comes out of the jar, it must be of good quality. And when it is whipped into the cream cheese, that cream cheese must be at room temperature, as should the lemon curd in its jar. The combination produces a layer of what tastes like cheesecake cream: light, lemony, luscious.
• I used to put the berries on top of the cream pretty much last-minute, but then I found that a leftover wedge, after the party, looked inviting after being in the refrigerator overnight, and so I now finish assembling the tart ahead of time. But if you prefer to add the fruit nearer to serving, I completely understand.
• Don't feel you must obey the fruit orders too literally: any mixture of berries (or indeed other fruit) would do, and you could well use a smaller amount and top the tart less extravagantly.
• Process the crackers and the butter to a sandy rubble in a food processor and press into the sides and the bottom of a deep-sided fluted tart pan. Put it in the freezer or refrigerator for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• In a clean processor bowl, process the cream cheese and lemon curd (or just mix by hand) and spread it into the bottom of the chilled tart pan, covering the base evenly.
• Arrange the fruit gently (so it doesn't sink in too much) on top of the lemony cream cheese in a decorative manner, leaving some of the strawberries unhulled, with their picturesque stalks attached.
• Refrigerator the tart, preferably overnight, or for at least 4 hours. It does need to get properly cold in order to set enough for the tart to be unmolded and sliced easily.
• Make Ahead Note:
• The tart can be made 1 day ahead. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, being careful not to press on the filling, and refrigerate. Will keep for around 4 days.
• Freeze Note:
• The tart, without fruit topping, can be frozen for up to 3 months if made with regular cream cheese, but be warned it may "weep" on thawing, so is not ideal for freezing. Open-freeze tart until firm, then wrap (still in its pan) in a double layer of plastic wrap and layer of aluminum foil. To thaw, unwrap and cover loosely with plastic wrap then thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Decorate and serve as directed in the recipe.

LEEK, CHEESE & BACON TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Heat the oil in a frying pan, then gently fry the leeks until soft, about 5 mins. Cool. Unroll the pastry onto a baking sheet. Spread the soft cheese over the pastry to within 3cm of the edges. Scatter over the leeks, bacon and grated emmental.
• Flip the edges of the pastry over the filling. Bake for 20 mins until golden.