Heart shaped beetroot, feta & bacon tartlets

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Lightly dust a clean flat work surface with flour.

Gently unroll the puff pastry halfway, slice off the unrolled half and return the remaining half to the freezer for future use.

Using a floured rolling pin, gently roll out the puff pastry to about half its original thickness.

Press out 8-10 heart shaped pastry shapes with a 7-8cm heart cookie cutter. TIP: You will only be serving 6 pastries, but make more just in case some don’t come out beautifully.

Place the pastry shapes on an oiled baking tray. Brush the sides of the tartlets with the egg yolk.

Cut out 8 or 10 10x10cm baking paper squares and place one on top of each pastry heart. Pour baking beans or rice on top of the paper to weigh the pastry down and blind bake the pastries for 10 minutes or until browned and almost cooked.

Remove from the oven, peel off the baking paper with the rice/baking beans and set aside.

While the pastries are baking, prepare the beetroot.

Spread out the cubed beetroot on a baking tray. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and Canderel, and toss.

Once the pastries come out of the oven, bake the beetroot in the same oven for 15 – 20 minutes until caramalised but still soft.

Remove from the oven and set aside.

NOTE: You can prepare the pastries and beetroot the day before.

Just before serving, pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Top each pastry with a tablespoonful of the beetroot and top with crumbled feta cheese.

Bake for about 5 minutes until the beetroot is warm and the cheese has started to melt.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a hot pan till crispy and cut into tiny pieces.

When the tartlets come out of the oven, scatter over the bacon crumbs and serve with wild rocket.

Drizzle with some balsamic reduction if you like.

Serve immediately