Sweet and Savoury Puff Pastry Tarts!

Now a few tips about working with puff pastry.

• Thaw the pastry and leave it in the fridge until you are ready to put it all together.
• Prep all your ingredients first.
• Be sure to preheat the oven to 400, always start with a hot oven. You want the fat in the pastry to melt quickly, for best results and to help give it that flakey texture.
• Do not fold the pastry and press, it will get tough, work quickly

What you will need for your Sweet and Savoury Puff Pastry Tarts

• One package of vegan puff pastry, frozen and then kept cool until ready to use
• I cup raw cashews, soaked in fresh water for a minimum of 2 hours and rinsed
• 1 fresh lemon, juice squeezed
• 1 shallot, sliced thin
• 1 handful of fresh mushrooms (I used shitake), sauteed and cooled
• 8-12 stalks of fresh asparagus, break off the bottom of the stalk
• 1 can cherry pie filling (you will have some leftover)
• ¼ cup icing sugar

How to make your Sweet and Savoury Puff Pastry Tarts

For both recipes, you will use the same process. Take the cool puff pastry from the fridge, use one half of the roll for the sweet and ½ for the savoury. Let’s start with the savoury. Cut the puff pastry roll in half and place the other half back in the fridge to stay cool. Cut the first ½ into 4-6 equal pieces. Cut with a pizza cutter for best results. Then you will fill and wrap the squares of pastry and cook in a preheated hot oven, till bubbly. While the savoury is cooking, you can prepare the sweet.

How to make your Savoury Puff Pastry with Asparagus and Cashew Cream

1. Prior to prepping the pasty, get your other components ready.
2. Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
4. Make the cashew cream. Soak the raw cashews for about 2 hours and rinse and drain. Add to your blender and blend, add water to get the consistency of thick pancake batter. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste. You will use ½ of the recipe for the savoury tarts and the other half for the sweet tarts. You may have some leftovers.
5. Break the harder/woody section off the bottom of the asparagus
6. Slice the mushrooms and sauté, set aside to cool
7. Take the pastry from the fridge, cut it into two large pieces, return one to the fridge and cut the other into equal pieces 4-6. Leave a bit of space between each piece on the pan.
8. Spread 1-2 tablespoons of your lemony cashew cream on the bottom of each square. Add the mushrooms and shallots and 2 stalks of asparagus in the middle.
9. Wrap two of the corners of the pastry to the centre and gently press them together
10. Pop in a hot preheated oven till golden brown, about 20 minutes.
11. Take out of the oven when ready, cool slightly and enjoy!

How to make your Sweet Puff Pastry with Cashew Cream and Cherry Pie Filling

1. Prior to prepping the pasty, get your other components ready.
2. Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
4. Take the remaining sheet of puff pastry from the fridge and cut the other into equal pieces 4-6. Leave a bit of space between each piece on the pan.
5. Spread 1-2 tablespoons of your lemony cashew cream on the bottom of each square
6. Place a dollop or two of the cherry pie filling on top of the cashew cream
7. Wrap two of the corners of the pastry to the centre and gently put them together
8. Pop in a hot preheated oven till golden brown, about 20 minutes.
9. Take out of the oven when ready and sprinkle with icing sugar
10. Cool slightly and enjoy!

That’s it, simple right? And you can make so many variations. Lemon curd, broccoli with cheese, just cheese, cheese with pizza sauce (plain or with a variety of toppings), blueberry tarts, the list goes on and on. What sweet and savoury tart will you make?