Strawberries and Cream Valentine Tarts

Aren't these little guys just too adorable?  When my girlfriend came over on Saturday, we dreamed up this delicious little dessert, and I'm so excited to share the recipe with you!

I didn't get a chance to write this up until just now because I've been fairly preoccupied this week, with Bo's mom and her little dogs arriving on Monday afternoon.  It's actually been a fairly smooth transition so far, but I haven't had a roommate in such a long time, that it's going to take some adjusting for us all.  But, I'll admit to playing dirty - I whipped up this recipe for her on Tuesday evening.  Major points right off the bat! :)

Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry

I hope that you are all enjoying the video's -- since I learned to cook by watching the Food Network -- It really puts me at ease to watch the recipe being created. I can then match up what I have created to see if I am doing something right. It's hard for me to just pick a recipe out of a magazine or cook book and make it. I do. But the video's really help me! I hope they are helping you too!


This week my recipe come from Ina Garten - The Barefoot Contessa. This is one of my favorite shows on the Food Network. I love how she makes fantastic dishes that seem hard but are secretly very simple.

In the video (from tasteofhome.com) you can see that there are very little in the way of ingredients:

Puff pastry
Ham
Cheese
Dijon mustard
and egg wash






I was have always feared working with puff pastry - it always seemed way to fancy for me. But it's actually very simple and easy to use. I was so surprised and delighted!! I am going to be looking for a dessert recipe to try out using it again! I bet it tastes phenomenal with chocolate!!


Check out how YUMMY mine looks!! I will say this -- every oven is different -- even though I took mine out well before the time was up -- it's still a little extra crunchy around the edges.





Directions:

Start with cold puff pastry on a lightly floured surface rolling out to about 10 in x 12 in.

Place on sheet pan lined with parchment paper. ( I didn't have parchment paper...turned out fine)

Brush with 2 tbs of Dijon mustard leaving a 1 in border.

Layer ham and cheese - about a quarter of a pound of each - leaving a 1 inch border. (I used cheddar cheese -- very yummy!!)

Roll out 2nd puff pastry to 10 in X 12 in.

Brush 1 in border of ham and cheese covered puff pastry with egg wash.

Place 2nd piece on top - lining up the edges to match.

Crimp edges with a fork.

Brush entire surface with egg wash.

Make 3 slits in top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

(remember to keep an eye on it -- mine got very brown very quick -- I covered it with foil and took it out of the over at about 22 minutes...ovens and cooking time certainly vary on this one!!)

Cut into squares and enjoy!!





We give this recipe 5 spoons -- I wanted more but it was all gone!

I think a good addition to this recipe could have been frozen spinach or broccoli - it was really cheesy and would have been great with either!





This was a simple and quick recipe to throw together. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we
did!!

Mellisa