Thursday, May 19, 2011

pine nut tart and tuna bruschetta





When I come up with things to cook for this blog, I usually have an ingredient or flavor in mind. This week I started by looking in my fridge for anything that needed to be used before it went bad. And I realized I have a crazy stockpile of all kinds of mis-matched goodies in there that HAD to be used. Between camping, parties and changes-of-mind, I seemed to have amassed a very random collection. I decided I needed to challenge myself to use as much of it as I could, and only allowed myself to buy bread... the rest of the meal had to come from what I already had.

So, I had half a tub of ricotta and a sheet of puff pastry left from when I made this morel tart. So I made another tart... only I didn't have a topping... but I pine nuts! So, inspired by one of my favorite spreads, pine nut ricotta spread, I made this tart. What a treat!


Ricotta Pine Nut Tart
-1 sheet puff pastry
-1 cup ricotta cheese
-1 egg
-1/2 teaspoon of garlicy seasoning mix, or mixture of granulated garlic, dried basil, onion powder
-salt and pepper
-handful of pine nuts
-Shredded Parmesan cheese

Combine the ricotta, egg and seasoning. Fold pastry sheet in half and roll into a rectangle, about 11" x 7". Use a fork to dock the pastry, leaving about an inch on all edges un-poked. Spread the cheese mixture over the docked area of the pastry. Sprinkle the pine nuts and Parmesan cheese over the top. Bake at 425ยบ for about 20 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese starts to brown. Serve warm.


I also had some grilled tuna from a camping trip. The tuna was cooked in a foil pack with garlic and butter. I also had assorted small tomatoes that I meant to use for something else but changed my mind. I decided to combine these to make a bruschetta. Very tasty, and a great way to make leftover fish go a long way... this made a bowlful that could easily have served as appetizers for a good-sized dinner party.



Tuna Tomato Bruschetta
-2 cloves cooked garlic (I used the garlic that was cooked with the fish)
-1 tuna fillet, cooked and chilled
-1 lb. cherry tomatoes
-1 Tablespoon olive oil
-1 Tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomatoes
-1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
-salt and pepper.

Chop up the fish and tomatoes and combine all the ingredients. Serve on slices of baguette that have been rubbed with olive oil, toasted then rubbed with a clove of fresh garlic.



Related posts:

chanterelle tart
asparagus tart
green tomato tart
bruschetta x3
roasted veggie bruschetta
old lady bruschetta
pepita pesto

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