Flavored Pastry Inspiration

Do you like to experiment in the kitchen? I do! I had a seat mate on a flight back to Paris who liked to cook. He quizzed me about what I cook to Impress a Guest. I had to answer that I just don't cook like that anymore. When people come over I'm usually inspired to try something new, and feeling confident in my friendships, I know the telephone number of our little Pizza place if the meal falls flat!

I taught a class in Pastry Making a few years ago. This was a hands-on class and one of my favorite classes to teach, btw. I just recently received an eMail along with some photos from a gal who took that class.......it got me excited to get my hands back in the dough again! I've blogged about my Tapenade Pastry and my Chocolate Dough......and with Clay arriving in the early morning, I love to serve up a Tart for lunch. You can make them in advance and rewarm gently to welcome a loved one back to France!

I decided to try something new, and create a new flavor for my Flavored Pastry. This brand of Pesto called Sacla has some great flavor combos, and the little jars can be added to most sauces, you can top a pizza, slap on a wrap sandwich, they are great to keep in your cupboard! I replaced the little jar of Tapenade with this olive and tomato pesto, thinking it would be a great flavored dough for my tart.

click on the photo for a larger look

You can see the color and the little bits of black olive that dot the dough. It was a pleasure to roll out and when blind baked it filled the house of lovely smells of the Mediterranean. Try it!

Do you see my new toy? The Matfer nylon rolling pin! First mentioned by "Martha" who was working with Maury Rubin of City Bakery fame, then I saw it mentioned again in Chow's Gift Guide. Nice weight and the dough just glides beneath it!

This Caramalized Onion and Spinach tart with a Marscapone Bleu Cheese is rich and delish! I think the dough recipe is a keeper!

And as someone sleeps away the jet-lag, my house is filled with love and lots of cooking!