Roasted Vegetable Tartlet With Gruyere
Ingredients:
• 1 sheet of ready-prepared puff pastry
• 1 1/2 cups of thinly-sliced, roasted vegetables
(I used onions, squash, and zucchini)
• 1/2 cup of Gruyere cheese, shredded
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread out puff pastry onto lightly oiled baking sheet, or sheet lined with parchment paper. Arrange vegetables on top of pastry sheet so that they are attractively overlapping. Sprinkle with cheese, nutmeg, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving, if you can last that long.
I like to keep my ingredients list pretty flexible. This recipe was made for a special occasion, so it is not a completely calorie-conscious recipe, but you could certainly make it one. You could substitute puff pastry for a healthier choice, like whole wheat pizza dough or even a multigrain pita or flatbread. The gruyere could be replaced with low- fat mozzarella, monterey jack, feta, or even soy cheese if you've got some on hand. The idea is to take a concept such as "dough/bread + veggies+cheese" and use whatever you have on hand to make it happen.
By not feeling like you have to buy every ingredient on a very long recipe list, you can save money by using what you already have in your pantry. Craving pizza, but you only have peppers, onions, feta, and some french bread? Make a greek-style french bread "pizza!" You could even roast the peppers and pulse them through the food processor with a little olive oil and seasoning to make an interesting take on pizza sauce. You could also go mexican if you have some tortillas, monterey jack, and salsa. There are literally a thousand combinations to the "dough/bread+veggies+cheese" formula. It's a great way to make a fast, simple meal that tastes great and adds veggies into your diet. It's especially great for kids, since kids are notorious for loving anything you can call "pizza," and it's cheaper, healthier, and probably even faster than waiting for the delivery guy to deliver your thousand-calorie-plus dinner.
Next time you are craving something warm and cheesy and are tempted to just go out for pizza, look in your pantry first. Chances are you have most of the ingredients for something delicious!
