Rules are meant to be broken. Don’t you agree?
Vol-au-vents are supposed to be baked in the oven first then filled with something ultra scrumptious afterwards. Sod it, I thought, experiencing one of my many lazy moments in life. How else will I get the cheese to melt if I don’t put it in the oven from the start?
Maybe my mini tartlets don’t look so proud and upright like others on the internet but definitely beats the competition in simplicity and taste. There’s a massive scope for creativity, be it the type of cheese you use or pairings (e.g. cheese and cherry tomato) you make up.
This time round I used Comté cheese, a refreshing change from our household’s staple Cheddar.
Great to serve as canapés, these crowd-pleasing tartlets should ideally be served warm.
Download and/or print the recipe! Click HERE.
Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry Tartlets
Prep Time: 10 mins – Cooking Time: 15 mins
Ingredients
- 12 frozen vol-au-vent cases
- 1 egg, beaten
- 200g (7 oz) Comté cheese, sliced in 1 cm (½ inch) cubes
- 100g (3½ oz) ham, sliced in 1 cm (½ inch) cubes
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C/425°F/gas 7).
- Place the vol-au-vents on a baking tray.
- Brush the outer rims with the egg.
- In equal quantities place the ham and cheese cubes in little towers on all the cases.
- Place the tray in the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the pastry is golden brown.
- Serve immediately.
Serving Suggestions
Serve as a canapé or as a light lunch with a crispy salad on the side.
They look pretty impressive to me… I know they wouldn’t last long if I served them to anyone I know! Love the simplicity of these little bites!
They’re so cute!!! I want to pop this in my mouth right away!
These look fabulous! Where can one buy vol-au-vent cases?
Stephanie: To answer your question, you can actually make your own vol-au-vent cases:
http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Videos/How%20to%20make%20Vol%20au%20Vent%20Cases%20Video.htm
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4G4CajvHzj0/Sq1rFRi0iRI/AAAAAAAADsk/Y9MVFArlDcc/s1600-h/shaped.jpg
Hope it helps!
They look lovely! I do a large version of these and make a puff pastry pizza, it never occured to make mini ones! Great effort to glory ratio there too!