Recipe: Roasted shallot and chevre tartlets

Roasted shallot and chevre tartlets. Photo / Babiche Martens

Serves 4

Pastry
180g butter, cubed
240g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water - chilled

12-16 shallots, depending on size, peeled
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup sherry
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper
3 Tsp fresh thyme leaves, plus a little extra to garnish
100g chevre

1 To make the pastry; put the butter, flour and salt into a food processor then pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

2 Add the water and pulse again until just combined. Remove and wrap in plastic wrap for 30 minutes.

3 Preheat the oven to 180C. Put the shallots into a small baking dish and add the garlic, sherry, butter, balsamic, seasoning and thyme. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until the shallots are golden and tender.

4 Roll out the pastry on a floured surface then cut to fit greased tins. Let rest for 20 minutes or longer before baking.

5 Bake the cases blind - line with baking paper and fill with dried beans or specific pastry weights - bake for 15 minutes then remove the paper and weights and continue baking for a further 5 minutes.

6 Warm the shallot mixture and spoon into the warm cases and top with crumbled chevre and a little thyme.

Chef's tip

Chevre can be substituted with a creamy cow feta if you don't fancy the flavour of goat cheese. Buy the best balsamic vinegar you can afford. You'll only need a little of the best - a drizzle will add so much more flavour than spoonfuls of a poor substitute.