Italian Tartlets

There's something about Italian food that makes my mouth water. It always seems fresh, simple, and above all flavorful. On a trip that I took a few years ago to Italy, we visited Florence, Venice, and Rome, and ate pastas and pizzas to our heart's content. Italian food in Italy is different from Italian food in other parts of the world. First of all, a real pizza is a large piece of dough which is rolled out until it is really thin, its topped with a fresh tomato marinara sauce and just a small sprinkling of cheese, before being tossed into a wood oven. The result is a crunchy thin delicious pizza crust with just enough flavoring on top to make you swoon, but not so heavy that you can't finish the whole thing by yourself. None of this deep fried pan pizza business, with chicken tikka pieces topped with five different cheeses, and some jalepeno peppers. I've even watched in horror as large pizza chains advertise kabob stuffed crusts on TV! The pastas in Italy were also to die for. Boiled pastas mixed with marinara sauces, sometimes pesto, sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan, and mixed with meat or the vegetable in season. Fresh, fresh, fresh. Delicious.

I made a simple spaghetti with ground beef dish yesterday. As per the Italian tradition, I used fresh tomatoes for the sauce, as well as some onions, and lots of fresh garlic. I wanted something pizza-like as well so as an appetizer I made delicious tartlets. I made the base with puff pastry, topped it with olive tapenade made from scratch, melted some mozarella cheese on top, and then topped them off with some lovely cherry tomatoes. The puff pastry base was crispy and flaky while the saltiness from the olive tapenade really complemented the sweetness from the tomato and the oozing melted cheese kept me eating tartlet after tartlet.

One thing that I noticed about Italians is that they really take the time to enjoy every bite of every meal. Instead of eating dinner inside with the TV blaring in the background, my husband and I took the food out onto the deck and bit into the tartlets as the sun was setting. They tasted even better...

We could learn a thing about the joy of food from Italians. Julia Robert's summed it up in the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" when she addressed a friend concerned about her weight after devouring pizzas upon pizzas. "I'm going for it. I have no interest in being obese. I'm just through with the guilt. So this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to finish this pizza and then we're going to go watch the soccer game, and tomorrow, we're going to go on a little date and buy ourselves some bigger jeans."

I'm glad I have the stretchy kind....

Tomato Basil Tartlets Recipe (by Giada de Laurentis)

Ingredients

• 1 (10 by 9-inch) sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1/3 cup olive tapenade (you can make from scratch if you can't find them in the store)
• 1 cup (2 1/2 ounces) shredded fontina cheese (or mozarella which I used)
• 8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 6 basil leaves, chopped (optional. I didn't use them)
• Fleur de sel or other large flake sea salt

An Olive Tapenade Recipe

• Fleur de sel or other large flake sea sal
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup pitted olives
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp capers
• pinch of salt and pepper

To make the tapenade first grind the garlic in blender and then add all of the other ingredients. Blend until you have a smooth mixture.

Directions for Tartlets

Special equipment: a 2 1/4-inch round cookie cutter (Can use the rim of a wide glass as well)

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Using the tines of a fork, prick the pastry all over. Using a 2 1/4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 16 rounds of pastry. Place the pastry rounds on the prepared baking sheet. Lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the pastry rounds. Place another baking sheet directly on top of the parchment paper to keep the pastry even while baking. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden. ( I would recommend baking it for 13 minutes and then removing the top pan and baking it for another 3-5 minutes before removing it from the oven).

Spread 1 teaspoon of tapenade on each pastry round. Place about 1 tablespoon of cheese on top. Arrange 2 pieces of tomato on the cheese. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chopped basil on top.

Transfer the tartlets to a platter and garnish with a pinch of fleur de sel.