Beetroot, goat’s cheese & thyme pastries

Name: Beetroot, goat’s cheese & thyme pastries
Prep time: 1 h 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 500 g bunches beetroot, scrubbed and trimmed; 2½ tsp Essential Olive Oil; 20 g pack thyme, leaves chopped; ¾ tsp salt; 1 bulb/s garlic; 165 g pack soft cheese; 1½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted and roughly crushed; A little plain flour, for dusting; 320 g puff pastry sheet; 1 British Blacktail Free Range Medium Egg, lightly beaten; 125 g log British soft goat’s cheese, in bitesized pieces

Tara Wigley's pastries make a gtreat stand-alone main – served with a rocket salad or cooked greens – or they can be cut into quarters to serve as a snack.

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Vegetarian

Makes4
CourseMain meal
Prepare1 hr 15 mins
Cook30 mins
Total time1 hr 45 mins
Pluschilling and optional freezing

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Ingredients

2 x 500g bunches beetroot, scrubbed and trimmed
2½ tsp Essential Olive Oil
½ x 20g pack thyme, leaves chopped
¾ tsp salt
1 bulb/s garlic
165g pack soft cheese
1½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted and roughly crushed
A little plain flour, for dusting
320g puff pastry sheet
1 British Blacktail Free Range Medium Egg, lightly beaten
125g log British soft goat’s cheese, in bitesized pieces

To finish 2 yarts (double if baking 4 at once)

2 tsp Essential Olive Oil
¼ x 25g pack parsley, leaves roughly chopped
1 clove/s garlic, finely chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Place the beetroot on a baking tray and roast for about 1 hour, until tender. Timing can vary depending on the size of the beetroot. Remove from the oven and, once cool enough to handle, peel off (and discard) the skins. Cut the beetroot into 5mm slices, then place in a bowl with 2 tsp oil, 2 tsp chopped thyme, 1/2 tsp salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix to combine and set aside.
As the beetroot roasts, cut away the top of the head of garlic, exposing the cloves. Drizzle with ½ tsp oil, wrap in foil and place on the tray with the beetroot for 45 minutes until completely tender.
When the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves into a bowl or small processor. Add the soft cheese, cumin seeds, the remaining 3 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp salt and some black pepper. Mash with a fork or process until the cloves disintegrate. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.
Prepare the puff pastry. On a flour-dusted work surface, cut the sheet of pastry into 4 rectangles, about 12x17cm each. Prick all over with a fork, place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, then cover and chill for at least 30 minutes or until ready to use.
Brush the pastry lightly with the beaten egg, then spread the soft cheese mix on the pastries, leaving a 5mm border clear around the edges. Arrange the sliced beetroot on top of the cheese mix, slightly overlapping and keeping the border clear. Dot the goat’s cheese between the beetroot slices, then bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and golden brown. To freeze, see tip.
Mix together the olive oil, parsley and garlic. Brush over the beetroot tarts as soon as they come out of the oven, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Cook’s tip

Freeze the pastries, once assembled with the cheese and beetroot, flat on the baking tray and wrap well for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen, adding 5 extra minutes cook time if needed. The only thing to make fresh is the parsley-garlic-oil mix, which is brushed over after they come out of the oven.

You can use 2 x 330g pouches of fresh beetroot (not the kind with vinegar) instead of roasting from raw. You still need to cook the head of garlic, but this can go in the oven while something else is cooking.