Roasted Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Tart

When you own your own bakery-cafe you have to be able to think fast.  Our customers are looking for something new, something different and most importantly something Delicious!  This past week a friend of a friend shared a recipe for a Goat Cheese Tart via her blog Celebrate Creativity. 

The photos of the tart were absolutely stunning and I was eager to try out the recipe.  More importantly these were ingredients I had on hand. It didn’t matter that I don’t like goat cheese because that picture spoke volumes to me.  You know what I mean, right?  After all we eat with our eyes first.

Questions started popping into my head.  Is it a carmelised onion and goats cheese tart?  or could that cheese tart recipe work with any roasted or carmelised ingredient? I wasn't sure if I should be making goats cheese or if store bought ingredients would be just as good. 

We put this under the  Cheese section of our blog because I believe any soft cheese would work and that includes a Fromage Blanc.  Fromage Blanc is a soft cheese usually made with cows milk and we make this quite often in our culinary classes at the store. No need to buy expensive roll out pastry just use the store brand.  A 9” refrigerator crust will fit the Tart pan perfectly. 

I debated over and over if I should trim the fluted edge. I dove right in thinking that I must have those perfect edges.  I totally forgot that pastry crust shrinks when pre-baked.  I used up the scraps for smaller fluted pie tart pans. After all, more Goats Cheese Tarts would be available for our cafe side. I trimmed the edges with a rolling pin and placed into the oven to bake for approx 7-8 minutes until slightly golden brown. Thyme to assemble.  Did you like that play on words?  Really it’s time. Sweat your onions and roasted red peppers in some olive oil.  Spread half the mixture onto the bottom of the tart pan(s).

Now, cover with egg mixture, some chopped thyme pieces and then the rest of the roasted red peppers.  Bake in 350 degree pre-heated oven.  I check at 30 minutes and then bake an additional 10 minutes if the knife that has been inserted does not come out come.

Normally our store smells like cinnamon.  On this day the aroma was onions, peppers and baked cheese.  Look at those beautiful photos of our Goat Cheese Tart. 

I would rate this as a 5 out of 10.  A little bit harder if you make your own crust and your own cheese from scratch.  Don't be afraid to try new combinations.  It happens to be spring and the spring onions were abundant so a carmelised onion and goats cheese tart could also be made. 

This is the BEST Goat Cheese tart recipe that I have found and can really be made year round. This goat cheese tart freezes well. Just defrost and cover with tin foil and reheat til warm. Our video shows the steps to making the BEST Goat Cheese Tart.

Recipe:      Roasted Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Tart
Author: Adapted from Celebrate Creativity
Prep time:  20 mins
Cook time:  40 mins
Total time:  1 hour
Serves: 6-8

• 3 red bell peppers – or 1 jar of roasted red peppers
• 1 garlic clove
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion (thinly sliced)
• 1 flaky pastry shell
• 5 ounces crumbled goat cheese
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped (and a little extra to garnish the baked tart)
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1-1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray the tart shell with Pam and place the pastry inside. You can use one 10” pan or 4 small ones.
3. Use a fork to punch multiple holes into the bottom of the crust.
4. Bake the shell until lightly golden approx 7-8 minutes. Then, remove from oven and set aside.
5. Cut the bell peppers into small, bite-size squares.
6. Roast peppers in roasting pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and chopped garlic clove.
7. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes until soft and slightly browned.
8. Add remaining oil to saucepan and saute the sliced onion until soft.
9. Spread the onions evenly across the baked pastry shell.
10. Add the roasted peppers right on top of the onions spreading them evenly.
11. Add the egg-yogurt mixture to the tart shell.
12. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top.
13. Add chopped thyme & some additional red peppers for color.
14. Bake the tart for 30-40 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
15. Add longer twigs of thyme to garnish.
16. Slice, serve and enjoy!