Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 red tomato, sliced
- 1 yellow tomato, sliced
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 egg, for egg wash
- 1/4 cup milk, for egg wash
- 1/2 tablespoon minced chives
- 1/2 cup fresh goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
- Sauce
- 1 cup cream
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 table spoon basil, chiffonade
- 1 tablespoon butter
Method
In a large sauté pan, sweat the onions until very soft, then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Season onion and garlic mixture with salt and pepper and add the minced chives.
Cut 6 inch round circles out of the puff pastry sheet.
Brush each circle with an egg wash.
Place a spoon full of onions in the center of the pastry circle.
Place in alternating fashion the sliced tomatoes on top of the onions in a circle. Be sure to leave about ½ inch of the pastry exposed.
Dot the tomato slices with some goat cheese and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
Bake each Vol au Vent on a parchment paper lined sheet tray in a
350 degree oven until pastry puffs and is golden brown.
For the sauce, combine the cream, wine and reduce over med high heat to 1 cup of liquid.
Add the basil and remove from the heat.
Swirl in the butter off the heat and serve under the baked Vol au Vent.
Tips on Tomatoes
- A good serrated knife is far superior to a flat-edged knife for slicing tomatoes. If you use a flat-edged knife, be certain it is very sharp or you will squash and bruise the tomato flesh when slicing.
- Do not use an aluminum pot, pan or utensil when cooking tomatoes. The acid in the tomato reacts unfavorably with the aluminum and can pit and discolor the aluminum cookware.
- The high acid content of tomatoes naturally slow down the cooking process of some other foods. For example, beans cooked with tomatoes may take up to twenty percent more cooking time than without.
- Plum tomatoes are best used for sauces. Globe, cherry, and grape tomatoes are best for eating raw, although all varieties are good.
- Herbs that marry well with tomatoes include basil, oregano, marjoram, pepper, dill weed, thyme, garlic, bay leaf, celery seed, sesame seed, tarragon, chives, and parsley. If you happen to be the unfortunate victim of the wrong end of a skunk, tomato juice will neutralize butyl mercaptan, the prime ingredient in the stinky defensive spray.
