Super quick cheese & red onion galettes

These are the easiest tarts to make and they’re so more ish. They take minutes to prep and taste so good. We had them for lunch with salad yesterday, but they would great for dinner too. When we all get back to socialising you could serve a bite size version of these to guests as appetisers or canapés. Just divide the pastry into smaller rectangles, repeat the steps below with less of the toppings and cook for a shorter amount of time.

I used the red onion chutney I made a few weeks ago, but you could use a good quality shop-bought instead to save time.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 320g packet pre-rolled puff pastry

• 6 tbsp sour cream

• 6 tbsp red onion chutney (recipe here)

• 200g block Comte cheese, rinds trimmed then grated

• 1 egg, lightly whisked

method

• Take the pastry out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to make the galettes, so it can warm to room temperature. Otherwise it will crack as you open it out.

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc.

• Open the pastry out keeping it on the parchment wrapping and place on a large baking tray. Use a sharp knife to divide the pastry into six rectangles (cut right through it).

• Then score each one with another rectangle 1 ½ cm inside the outer edges (see photo steps below).

• Place a tablespoon of sour cream into the middle of each tart and spread out evenly inside the inner rectangle.

• Repeat with a tablespoon of chutney, then top with a large pinch of cheese (approx 25-30g), making sure all the toppings are within the inner rectangle.

• Carefully brush the egg around the outside border making sure the toppings aren’t spilling on to it at all.

• Place in the oven and cook for 18-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and has puffed up all around the outside.

• Serve with a crisp green salad or coleslaw.

tip

• You could use any cheese that isn’t too oily like cheddar and melts well, like Gruyère, goats, Gorgonzola, Camembert.

Red onion & bay chutney

We (Ralph) polished off all the tomato chutney from last week, so I thought I’d make some more as it’s quickly become an essential item for us to have in the fridge! This one is absolutely delicious with a toastie, but you can also use it with the same combinations as the tomato relish I made a few days ago: halloumi wraps, quiche, (veggie or meat) sausages/hot dogs or ANY cheese!

When you think of making chutney you probably imagine lots of chopping, a huge pan, faffing about sterilising lots of little jars and then leaving it to mature for a month, but not with this recipe. It’s quick and easy to prep and you’ll end up with a couple of medium sized jars that you can just keep in the fridge for a month.

If you’re feeling more ambitious, you can double or triple the recipe, sterilse and store for a month to mature, but make sure you follow the jar cleaning guide I have linked below though.

Ingredients

Makes 2 medium sized jars

• 6 medium red onions finely sliced

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 100ml balsamic vinegar

• 100ml red wine vinegar

• 180g soft brown sugar

• 2 bay leaves

Method

• I like to use a food processor slicing attachment to save my eyes from onion chopping, but if you don’t have one, it’s easy to slice in thin half moons.

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and then add the onions, cook for about 30 minutes on low until they are all softened.

• Next add the sugar, bay leaves and vinegar, bring to the boil and then simmer for 40 minutes.

• I keep mine in the fridge, so I don’t bother sterilising the jars, but if you want to store at room temperature you’ll need to follow these instructions on BBC Good Food.

Tomato & red onion chutney

As we’re all spending a lot more time at home right now, I thought it would be useful to share a recipe that will help you liven up your lunches. I don’t know about you, but I feel like the kitchen has turned into a revolving door canteen providing endless meals for everyone, so at the moment I want to keep things as simple (and tasty) as possible. Simple - to cut back on time spent meal prepping and tasty - well obvs, but especially at the moment because food is the highlight of everyone’s day right now!

I’m hoping this chutney might bring a spark of joy to your life, by injecting flavour into your lunch or dinner! We’ve added it to our burgers and halloumi wraps this week (see below), but it also works really well with cheese (and ham?) toasties, hot dogs, quiche, sausages or any kind of cheese. Alternatively you could mix a little chutney with mayonnaise and add to a sandwich or try mixing a spoon into a salad dressing.

This recipe takes about 10 minutes to prep and the rest is cooking time, so it’s pretty simple to throw together.

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, halved and sliced thinly

• 8 vine tomatoes, chopped into small cubes

• 60g soft brown sugar

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• ½ tsp sea salt

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a medium sized pan and add the onions. Fry for 15 minutes and then add the tomatoes, sugar and red wine vinegar.

• Heat until bubbling and then reduce to a simmer for 40 minutes until you have a jammy texture.

• Add the salt and stir well. Mash any larger pieces of tomato with a fork.

• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.