A sheet of frozen puff pastry is the magic key to the quickest, crispest tarts
There is rarely much in the freezer. Coffee beans, a tub of vanilla ice cream and another of Italian lemon sorbet (I mix them, try it), blackcurrants for yogurt smoothies, a bag of damsons for breakfast compotes, some frozen peas and a packet of emergency crumpets. And another thing: a sheet of all-butter puff pastry. Pastry that I thaw and roll as thinly as I dare, scatter with nuggets of crisp pancetta, butter-softened shallots, a grating of parmesan or fontina and a few sprigs of thyme, then bake until the edges are puffed and golden. A tart I can slide straight on to a wooden board and bring out for lunch.
Deep tarts, those blind-baked pastry cases filled with deep and quivering savoury custard, onions and lardons of bacon, are all well and good when I’m in the mood to bake, but they are something of a performance in comparison to the ease of a puff pastry tart. Both have their place in my kitchen, but the parchment-thin puff pastry version is the one I make most often, no doubt due to the fact I have most of the ingredients almost permanently to hand.
Continue reading...from Lifestyle | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2QnWn6U