miss b loves.......mushroom and walnut tarts

These little tarts are full of autumnal flavours and are ideal as a quick lunch or a simple starter. I picked up the recipe leaflet while shopping in Sainsbury's (I always find their recipes to be quick and reliable without long lists of ingredients!) 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

250g closed cup chestnut mushrooms halved (or sliced thickly)

2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked

½ 375g pack ready rolled puff pastry

20g walnut halves chopped

40g Shropshire Blue cheese crumbled 

1 medium free range egg, lightly beaten 

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the mushrooms and thyme. Sauté for 5 mins or until golden. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, unroll the pastry and stamp out 4 x 10 cm rounds. I cut round a Chinese bowl which just happened to be the right size!

3.Place the rounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet and, using a sharp knife, score a 1cm border around the edge of each round taking care not to cut all the way through.

4. Toss the walnuts and Shropshire Blue cheese together with the mushrooms, then spoon into the centre of the pastry rounds.

5.Brush the edges with the beaten egg and bake in the oven for 10-15 mins until puffed up and golden. Serve with a green salad.

(I used lamb's lettuce)

The chestnut mushrooms have a lovely nutty taste but other types of mushrooms could also be used and if you're not a fan of blue cheese then a mature cheddar would be a good alternative.

P.S. Thank you to Tinajo for her Raspberry Squares recipe - a sweet treat which finished off our lunch nicely - absolutely delicious! You can find her recipe here