Goats Cheese and Tomato Slice

You will Need

1 packet puff or flaky pastry
small packet hard goats cheese
12 or more cherry tomatoes
3 tsp pesto

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  2. Roll out the pastry into a large rectangle approx 30x45cm.
  3. Cut this into 6 rectangles.
  4. With a sharp knife, score a line 1cm in from each side on each rectangle - this will form the edging crust.
  5. Prick the area inside the scored line to stop it rising.
  6. Put each piece of pastry onto a baking sheet.
  7. Spread the pricked area with a half teaspoon of pesto.  Make sure not to put it on the crust.
  8. Chop the cherry tomatoes into chunks, and the goats cheese into 1cm cubes.
  9. Sprinkle the tomatoes and cheese over the pesto.
  10. Cook for 20 mins or until the cheese is melted and the pastry is a golden brown.

Serve hot with a leafy salad but can equally be eaten cold as part of a picnic.

Optionally, you can create it as one big slice, and cut slices from it when needed.

Cheesy Veg. Pie

Very, very easy.  The only thing to remember is to thaw out any frozen or chilled ingredients beforehand.  Although things like frozen peas and corn can be added directly to the boiling water.

Ingredients

1 packet flaky pastry, at room temperature 
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
½ litre milk
lots of grated cheese
assorted veg. defrosted/peeled/chopped into bite sized pieces
(peas, corn, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, potato etc.)

Method

  1. Prepare all the veg. depending on the types chosen.  Peel and chop potato, carrots, etc. into bite sized pieces.  Chop up broccoli or cauliflower and the like into florets.  Defrost frozen peas and sweetcorn and so on.
  2. Simmer the veg. in a pan of salted water until lightly cooked. This can all be done in the same pan if tipped in at different times (e.g. root veg first, then florets, then smaller podded veg). Drain the veg.
  3. Make a cheese sauce, by melting the butter in a pan and cooking the flour in it. Then, add the milk slowly, mixing all the time to avoid lumps. Finally, add in the cheese and stir until smooth.
  4. Pour the drained veg. into the sauce and stir well. Tip into a casserole dish
  5. Roll out the pastry to roughly fit the top of the casserole. Score 2 or 3 short lines through the pastry in the centre to allow the steam out, then place on top of the cheesy veg mixture
  6. Bake for 20 to 25 mins at 200°C