Goat Cheese Tartlets

So this recipe is 100% from my friend Lee.  Just throwing that out there so she doesn't say I stole it later.

These delicious little poofs of goat cheese perfection are a great side, appetizer or compliment for soup.  I made them for brunch with Lee the first time and as a side for a delicious pumpkin soup last week.






Ingredients:
Puff Pastry Shells
Goat Cheese (discussion below...)
Onions
Butter


Instructions:
1. Bake the pastry shells according to the directions on the box until they are about 3-5 minutes from being done.


2. While the pastry is baking, caramelize the onions with some butter. **When I made these the first time, Lee had an artisan caramelized onion marmalade.  This was delicious but unfortunately hard to find in Boston.


3.  Goat Cheese: I love goat cheese.  Hazel loves goat cheese.  We use a lot of goat cheese in this house. I think it would be wise to outline some basics on goat cheese:


If you are using it for melting or something that needs to be super smooth, use the creamy kind.  If you are using it in a salad or something that needs crumbly-bits, use the crumbly kind.  This might seem logical, but I'm blonde and it took me a long time to figure this out.


For this recipe, it would be best to use creamy goat cheese, but I think it needs to also be an herbed flavor.  Most of the herbed goat cheese I have found is the crumbly kind, so there needs to be some strategy.  You can just use the herbed kind, mix the herbed kind with the creamy kind, or mix your own herbs into creamy kind.


I used almost all the herbs in my planters and a couple dry additions to make my own creamy kind.


4.  When the pastry shells are almost done, take them out of the oven, let them cool a little bit and remove the tops.


5.  Add the caramelized onions and top with goat cheese.  Replace top (or not... your call)


6.  Put back in oven till they are completely cooked and beautifully brown.  If you leave off the tops, you can broil the cheese till it gets nice and bubbly (if tops are on, they tend to burn... trust me.)


7.  Let cool for a couple minutes and serve!