Michelle Darmody: A selection of savoury tarts

I WANTED to include a few recipes today that use the same base ingredients but can be adapted quickly and easily to make use of many different combinations.

The premise is that with a sheet of puff pastry, ricotta and another soft cheese, topped with a tasty combination of ingredients you have a tart that can be served as a starter for a dinner party or as a tasty lunch. You can use various vegetables or add some leftover smoked fish or bacon. These tarts are a handy way to use leftover roasted vegetables or boiled potatoes. It is about getting the right combination; beetroot, red onion and nutmeg; tomato, mustard and thyme; sliced potato, rosemary and sea salt. There are endless combinations and once you source a good quality puff pastry most of the work is done.

I always bake tarts on a metal tray that I have preheated in the oven. It gives a crisper base as the underneath starts to bake straight away. You can par-bake the pastry first and then add toppings, but I find it difficult to spread the ricotta if I do it this way. I tend to fill the pastry with the toppings while it is cold. At times I fashion some tinfoil to sit over the centre and bake for the first half hour. I then remove the tin foil and turn the oven up for the last 10 minutes.