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Baked puff pastry cherry tomato tarts on a pale board.
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5 from 4 votes

Christmas Cherry Tomato Tarts

Flaky puff pastry topped with creamy ricotta cheese, basil pesto and sweet roasted cherry tomatoes. These easy little tarts are perfect for Christmas entertaining (or, um, entertaining at any time of year!).
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time22 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American, Australian, Italian
Keyword: puff pastry tarts, steam oven pastry, tomato tarts
Servings: 8 tarts
Calories: 232kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet store-bought puff pastry 30cm/12” square, thawed
  • 5 oz 150g firm ricotta cheese about 2/3-3/4 cup. If your ricotta is quite wet, drain in a fine sieve for a couple of hours before use
  • 2 oz 50g basil pesto store bought is just fine
  • 12 cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 400⁰F/200⁰C, combination steam setting. If your oven has variable steam settings, use 50%. If not, don't worry! Just set to combination steam at the correct temperature and the oven will work out the humidity for you. Lightly grease a dark coloured baking tray or line with silicone paper.
  • Cut the pastry in half crosswise, then cut each half across into 4 rectangles. Lay the rectangles on the tray with a little space between each one and lightly score a 1/4"/5mm border around the edges of each piece with a sharp knife. Take care not to cut all the way through the pastry.
  • Divide the ricotta between the rectangles of pastry, spreading it up to the borders you’ve cut. Top each piece with three small dots of pesto, then put a halved cherry tomato, cut side up, onto the pesto.
  • Cook the tarts for 12 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened and the pastry is golden brown. Serve hot or warm.

Notes

This recipe can be easily scaled up for serving a crowd.
If you'd like to prep ahead, these tarts can be fully assembled and frozen, uncooked. They'll keep that way for up to a couple of weeks and can be baked straight from frozen (allow a couple of extra minutes if you're doing this).
I like to use a dark colored pan when baking puff pastry in my steam oven. It makes the bases of the tarts brown more easily.

Nutrition

Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 160mg | Potassium: 93mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 346IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1mg