Tarte Soleil Appetizer

My physical therapist shared with me this tarte soleil recipe when I told her I was looking for elegant appetizers that can feed a lot of people. I’m planning my husband’s 50th birthday party and there will be a lot of people. Having tested both a gluten-free and a regular version (which I made, but did not taste), I can attest that this one is indeed a keeper.

And it’s simple! You need two unsweetened puff pastries – in French it’s pâte feuilletée – and I’ve read that Pepperidge Farms makes decent ones. You would need to cut yours in the form of a circle, however, to get the “sun” aspect. (Soleil means sun for the non-French speakers).

Unfortunately, if you’re gluten-free and live outside of France, I’m not sure if you can buy pre-made GF puff pastry. If you know what’s available in your neck of the woods in terms of gluten-free or regular puff pastry, would you leave it in the comments? The information might help others.

Pre-heat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Place one puff pastry on a pizza sheet and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. I used 200 grams, which is 1 and a heaping half cup. On top of that, I cut fresh chives. I didn’t measure, but it looked like this.

Place the other pastry on top and a cup in the middle – it’s just to hold the center.  Then divide it into four, leaving the center untouched.

Then this is where you can either cut it into 12 or 24 pieces. I tried both and prefer 24. It feeds more people and the you get less pastry with your cheese.

Once you remove the cup, I recommend cutting the long strips with a pizza cutter. A knife can sometimes get caught on the dough and cheese. Here’s a view of the second one I made with regular (non-gluten-free) puff pastry, cut into 12.

Then, with the help of a small spatula or butter knife, twist each strip.

It will look like this when you’re done.

Or this in the larger model.

Brush the yolk of an egg over the top – mix a half tablespoon of water with the yolk to thin it out just a little. And you can sprinkle that with poppy seeds, or with sesame seeds.

And you’ll want to add some medium-grain sea salt. Put it in the oven for 20 Minutes, then check on it and turn it for another 5-10 minutes as needed. You’ll need to know your oven. My first one, got too crispy so I’ve lowered the oven temperature for your benefit.

And here’s the larger, gluten model, not as pretty in my estimation.

Cut any dough that might have cooked together to separate the “rays” so people can get their part easily. And then you have a serving …

or two!

There you have your tarte soleil appetizer!

I’ve been silent lately, I know. I actually typed out what’s been going on, but when I read it over, it sounded like a lot of griping to me so I deleted what I wrote. Suffice it to say, I’m finishing up another edit on my Regency and have two more people to fire it off to, though I’m thinking I might need yet another round of edits for my own sake. That absorbs a lot of my energy right now, even if everything else was going along swimmingly (which it’s not).

But that’s alright. I’m still here. And to quote a French classic movie title : la vie n’est pas une longue fleuve tranquille. Life is not a long, tranquil river.

 

Tell me, friends, I need to find a delicious recipe for chicken breast (where the chicken breast is whole not cut) that won’t dry out and has a delicious sauce that everyone is likely to appreciate. Do you guys have any recipes for me?

Comments

I love to hear from you, friends. You can comment using the box below or your Facebook profile. But FB doesn't notify me of new comments, so if the post is more than a week old and you want to make sure I see your comment, it's better to use the comment box. Merci!