Summer Savouries

Summer is a good time to re-think our meal times. Longer evenings mean supper gets put back later and in order to keep going until then, tea-time needs upgrading from a basic cuppa and a biscuit affair. Of course the obvious refreshment for a summer afternoon outing is a cream tea but the idea of  weekend high tea with sandwiches and little savouries as well as scones and cakes is deliciously tempting. It  also can be handy to have some savoury pastries on hand ready for picnics. These could be scaled up to make large tarts but this size makes ideal finger food. What follows is not an exact recipe but more guidance on how to make these. There is something very satisfying about taking a recipe; tweaking and adapting to take into account what you have to hand and the tastes of those who you are cooking for, coming up with something that goes down a treat and  knowing you did it your way. Take these directions and make them your own - that it is just what I did. Having read so many recipes online and in magazines, it would be hard to pinpoint exactly where the idea(s) came from.

Summer savoury tartlets

You will need:

Cases

Puff pastry (The only time I have made my own was in school cookery classes. This taught me not only how to make it but also that life is too short for such effort when you can buy it.)

Filling

250g marscapone cheese

1 teaspoon English Mustard

1/2 teaspoon Maggi Liquid seasoning - optional but very good. Otherwise simply season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toppings 

Asparagus, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, grated Parmesan

What to do:

1. Lightly grease some baking trays. Heat the oven to 220 deg. (Make sure the pastry is thawed if using frozen)
2. Mix together the ingredients for the filling. When they are thoroughly blended, pop the mix in the frig until needed.
3. Prepare the pastry cases. Roll the pastry out to about half a centimetre thick. Cut into rectangles about 6cm by 10cm. Use a sharp knife to cut around the shape about half a cm from the edge taking care to not to cut right through the pastry. This creates the frame for the case and you don't want the centre to drop out completely; you just want to cut through the top layers. Inside the frame, use a fork to prick the pastry. Place the pastry rectangles on the baking trays and bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and the tops are beginning to brown. The bottom should also be thoroughly cooked. If you are not going to fill them straight away,  transfer them to a  wire cooling tray. Turn the oven down to 175 deg. While the cases are cooking prepare the vegetable toppings.
4. To prepare the asparagus wash and then cut the spears into 5 cm lengths. Steam or simmer them until they are just tender. Drain and set aside to cool. For these tartlets I used 2 tips for each case. (The other non-tip bits can be used for stir fries, risotto, or soup.)
5. To prepare the mushrooms, clean them and slice into 4. Melt a little butter and a teaspoon of walnut oil if you have it, in a large frying pan. Add the mushroom slices and fry gently, turning once so that both sides are lightly browned, season with salt and black pepper.
6. Halve the tomatoes. For the pastries in the picture I decided to use tomatoes at the last minute as I had cases and filling to spare, so I only halved them. With the skins still on they have a tendency to explode when you bite into them, so you could pop the halves, cut side down on a tray and put them in the oven for a few minutes so the skins will just slip off before you assemble the tartlets.
7. Assembling the tartlets. Recipes for vol-au-vents will tell you to remove the top layers of the centre of the cooked cases to create a little 'box' to put the filling in. I used the back of a teaspoon to gently press the centres down below the level of the borders. Spread a layer of the marscapone and mustard  filling mix in the tartlet cases, about a teaspoonful in each. Arrange the asparagus tips in each case and sprinkle over some Parmesan. For the mushroom filling, I crumbled in some blue cheese before arranging the mushroom slices. Blue cheese tastes great but doesn't look so appetising when melted on the top. The tomatoes are just arranged on top of the filling and sprinkled with Parmesan.  Glaze the borders of the cases with milk or beaten egg.
8. Bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Both the unfilled baked cases and the finished tartlets freeze well. Any left over filling is good on granary toast or on flat bread.
With the current abundance of summer herbs and the new vegetables coming in, there must be lots of other possibilities for toppings to try.And of course by switching the mustard in the filling to a spoonful of caster sugar and adding vanilla essence instead of the seasoning there could be sweet versions using gooseberries, blueberries or thin slivers of plum for toppings.