Tofu, cherry tomatoes, basil and pine nuts savoury tarts.

 

Until saturday, I’ve never had tofu. But, shopping at an organic food store, i ran into a box of it, and just couldn’t resist. I had to buy it. At home the question was : what do I do with it now? I tried the simple recipe wrote on it’s box : grill it, sprinkle with some salt and olive oil and eat it. Chewy. Very Chewy. And not so tasty, not at all. My first approach to it was pretty negative. But I had to turn things around, and so I did. 

Tofu, cherry tomatoes, basil and pine nuts  savoury tarts.

Makes 4  3 inch tarts

a recipe of puff pastry (or a box of frozen one, or some pie crust dough)

2 eggs

6 tbsps of heavy cream

1 tblsp of Pesto sauce ( or Finely chopped fresh basil)

2 tbsps grated parmesan cheese

6 tbsps of finely chopped tofu

4  tsps of pine nuts

8 cherry tomatoes

pinch of salt

Preheat oven at 360 degrees.

Fill the tart rings with the puff pastry (or unsweetened pie crust dough) , dock the bottom lightly, and place them on a sheetpan lined with parchment.

In a small bowl lightly beat the eggs with  cream,  parmesan cheese, salt, Pesto sauce (or chopped basil), and salt.Add the tofu. Fill the dough shells about halfway with the eggs and tofu mixture. Put on top some slices of cherry tomatoes and the pine nuts. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Serve warm or room temperature.

It makes a great summery meal served with a salad!

Summer eggplants rolls

An easy mediterranean appetizer, just right for warm summer dinners.  Just slice lenght side an eggplant , you will need thin slices ( 5 mm) . Generously sprinkle every slice with salt and put them  into a  bowl , so the bitter water in the eggplants will be drained away by the salt. After a couple hours rinse one by one the slices and line them on a kitchen towel. Roast the eggplants in a flat pan without oil or butter, about 5 minutes each side. Allow them to cool down. Now, let’s start making the rolls! Spread a slice of roasted eggplant with a little tomato sauce ( made by cooking  2 1/2 cups of crushed canned tomatoes with 4 tbsps of olive oil, a piece of garlic ,a few fresh basil leaves  and a pinch of salt for about 15 minutes over medium heat and then 5 minutes over high heat), then some mozzarella cheese ( the shredded frozen one works just fine, i must say even better because it doesn’t release as much water as the fresh one does), a teaspoon of shredded parmisan cheese, and a basil leave. Now roll it on itself and close it with a toothpick. Repeat with the other roasted slices. Now put all the rolls in a oven pan, sprinkle them with a pinch of salt and a little olive oil. Cook them in the oven heated at 360° for about 8 minutes. They’re now ready to serve,maybe with a thin slice of parmisan cheese on top.Get ready to get applauses from you guests! ;)