Strictly Supper #4 – Pesto Double

More commonly known as Pesto & Cheese Tart with Sweet Chilli Jam

Where do I start with this one, well it’s another loosely linked one but it’s a tasty and b quick and easy. The idea came was born a while ago after I had defrosted some ready rolled pastry and didn’t really know what to do with it. I’d made some pesto so lined the pastry with it and the sprinkled cheese on it…. yum….   My brother-in-law Graham will appreciate this, he’s a fully paid up member of the Wheelie Good Cheese Fan Club (ok that doesn’t exists but it was funny in my head). I make these sort of tarts all the time and I know he’s a fan (either that or a good liar 😉 )

The strictly bit for this recipe is that it’s based in the Paso Doble which is a Spanish name for a French dance routine and translates as double step. For more information on the particular routine click here. Pixie Lott scored a staggering 38 out of 40 (the highest this season) and Judy Murray scored a lowly 18.

As dodgy as the photos look this is a really good recipe and I really enjoy making it, as I’ve said in the downloadable copy I make this in different guises. The ingredients are simple I’ve used Tesco Pesto (I’m a poet and I didn’t know it 😀 ) along with jus rol pastry. You can use any hard cheese but I like Gruyere for taste and consistency. The equipment below, you can use a grated for the cheese, but to make it easier I used a food processor. I’ve also greased the tin ready to be used.

Firstly preheat your oven to 200⁰C, remember all the measurements, temperatures and times in this recipe are open for interpretation depending on your circumstances. In a food processor put the Gruyere Cheese and blitz until it’s grated finely, set aside for later.

Then finely chop the pepper, cut them into small dice for the sauce. Once chopped place the pepper, sugar, chilli flakes, water and white wine vinegar in a saucepan and place on the stove and bring to the boil. Be careful with the amount of chilli you use and also the amount of sugar, when I cooked it for the purposes of the blog I was a bit heavy handed with the chilli… that wasn’t fun 😳

Leave to simmer for 30 minutes until the water has turned pink. Remember that you should taste as you go along, make sure you have enough chilli and sugar to suit your tastes. Once the sauce has turned pink allow to cool by setting it aside for later.

Once cool, place in a food processor and blitz until smooth, I sieved it and then put it back on the heat and cooked it’s so that it became sticky and jam like. This will keep for a few days in an air tight container, if you find it’s too spicy you can mix it with some mayonnaise to lessen the heat.

To make the tart place the puff pastry on a baking tray and score the edges, you’ll do this to get a border. Then prick the pastry with a fork to make lots of dots to stop the pastry rising. Place the red pesto on the one side of the tart and then the green on the other side. I left a border between the two and covered it with cheese. You could put caramelised onions on top of the pest, that would be nice but it’s lovely just as it is.

Egg wash the tart and place in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until it’s golden brown. As I’ve said all ovens vary so just be aware that you want it to go brown… keep watching it to make sure that the cheese doesn’t burn (or go quiet brown like mine did  😳)

Don’t be alarmed if the pastry looks like it’s becoming green or red it’s the oil in the pesto steeping out… honest O-) Serve with the chilli jam, it’s great warm or cold, you can see here I’ve served a slice of red and green pesto.  You can use any pesto for this recipe, I’ve used Tesco because well… that’s where I was shopping lol.

Don’t forget to download our step-by-step recipe from the link here. Feel free to get in touch with ideas, questions etc, you can email enquiries@wheeliegoodmeals.co.uk or go to one of our Social Media pages.

Ta ta 😎