Savoury Puff Pastry Tartlets

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I'm testing out a few Christmas buffet and canapé recipes at the moment. These little bite-sized tartlets can be filled with your choice of vegetarian or vegan fillings. I have added a few suggestions below, but you can use pretty much anything you fancy.

• 1 block of ready-made puff pastry
• Your choice of fillings

Grease a tartlet/mini muffin/bun tin and preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/425F/Gas7.

Roll out the puff pastry until it is fairly thin. Using a cutter just bigger than the top of your tartlet or bun tin (holes wells indents...what do you call them?), cut out circles of the pastry, as close together as possible, so that you don't waste too much pastry. 
Pop the pastry circles into your tin and press down in the centre to make space for the fillings.
Fill and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. Only add a little filling to each tartlet as the pastry will rise quite a lot. 
When cooked, remove from the tin and serve hot or warm.

I filled mine with 3 different combinations:

• Greek (pictured left) - chopped olives, roasted red pepper and sundried tomatoes. Top with a little feta cheese and a sprinkle of dried oregano.
• Roasted piri piri vegetables (pictured centre - vegan) - finely chop some bell pepper, courgette, mushroom and onion and fry in a drop of olive oil for around 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tbsp piri piri sauce. 
• Roasted squash and goat's cheese (pictured right) - cube the squash and roast with some ground fennel seeds for about 15 minutes. Top with a little goat's cheese.

Suitable for freezing

If you wish to make these in advance, slightly under-cook them (so the pastry is firm but still pale). Cool and freeze. Defrost and reheat at 180C/170C Fan/350F/Gas4 for around 5 minutes.

Other ideas include: chopped tomato, basil & mozzarella, blue cheese & mushroom, roasted vegetables & pesto, garlic mushrooms, refried beans and salsa etc. Just remember to cook raw vegetables lightly first, to remove some of their juices, otherwise your tartlets will have soggy bottoms!

If you want to make mini quiches or add sweet fillings (including chutneys), use shortcrust pastry instead, as puff pastry will not hold these fillings well. 

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