I have a recipe from the 50's called Olive Tarts. It uses a cheddar cheese pastry similar to a pie crust (Cheese, butter, flour, salt, & cayenne) that is wrapped around a stuffed olive and baked. I want to make something more elegant, flakier - little tarts with the olives on top. Should I use my blitz puff pastry recipe and add cheddar to it? If I do, when should I add the cheese? And, although I usually serve these hot, I am also looking for suggestions for similar pastries that are good room temp. Thanks.

Hey, I maded those years ago, didn't think anyone else made them any more. I probably wouldn't go with puff pastry I think it will over take the olive. I like the idea of a cheese tartlet with a olive filling alot.!

Try Bernard Claytons' "The Complete Book Of Pastry Sweet & Savory" as a source. I also think I remember Julia Child having several savory items along this line. "The Joy Of Cooking" or "Betty Crocker" are also places to look.

Other items: veggie pizza from Pillsbury (simple, well liked), bluecheese/creamcheese spread on flattened bread asparagus center, rolled then toasted. There's too many to list, I'd hit the books.

Good Luck

Mixing cheddar into puff has not worked for me. to much fat.
I have made mini tarteletes with the same proceedure as cheese straws. roll out just as straws but cut circles, put in mini muffin pans an bake.They need to be weighted, i throw another pan on top. you can make as spicy as you like.
Just an idea.
Ciao.
Panini

Thanks for the tip, Panini. I will stick to the original dough, but will make it in a tart shape. W. - I find these little nuggets fly off the trays (except for their annoying habit of rolling off) - people love them. It has always bothered me that they are called tarts but don't look like them! My clientele has gotten ritzier so I want to create a better looking product.

Follow-up: I added a bit more flour to the original recipe to cut down on the fat and pressed the dough into mini-muffin tins. Then I spread a 1/2 tes of sundried tomato & garlic concentrate, topped with a whole olive and baked them. They were a big hit and much prettier than the round ones, which tend to burst open. Thanks again for the advice!

what type of olive are you using. I'm having a grand opening in April and these sound very good.
Can you make them ahead of time?
panini

I use queen sized pimento stuffed manzanilla olives. You can make them ahead 2 ways - either freeze them raw (this uses up all your pans!) or bake them to slightly underdone and then freeze them. At serving time, pop them, either frozen or thawed, into a 350 oven to reheat. You could also use a black tapenade underneath instead of the sun-dried tomato concentrate. The green olive against the pale orange dough is very pretty and they are tasty.

cj

Thank you!!
panini