Grapes are just coming into season here now. Where we walk with the dog there are vines, heavy with juicy bunches growing along the fences at the side of the paths. Every day they ripen a little more with the intense heat of the sun.
I’ve never cooked with grapes before. At the restaurant we had an Andalucian salad with Manchego cheese, grapes, Serrano ham and a Jerez (sherry) vinegar dressing that sold very well in the summer.
This got me thinking about the grape and Manchego combination. The Washer Up used to make a Manchego & Red Onion Tartlet that was delicious. He cut the puff pastry into triangles a little bigger than the triangle of cheese and made a red onion marmalade to go on the top. It was a very popular starter.
My version just swaps the red onion marmalade for a grape compote. I used elderflower cordial in the compote because it is the very essence of summer but you can use grape juice if you can’t get any. I bought mine in Ikea.
The fennel seeds idea came from a recipe for Grape & Fennel Seed Focaccia in the Ottolenghi Cookbook. I am slightly Ottolenghi obsessed at the moment. The fennel seeds add an interesting flavour and texture, and the Spanish do love their anis so it finished off the dish nicely.
If you strain the compote before it cools you will also have a grape and elderflower syrup to drizzle over the finished dish, but it’s not essential.
Remember to put the frozen puff pastry in the fridge to defrost the night before you need it.
White Grape, Manchego & Fennel Seed Tartlets Recipe
makes about 6 or 7 tartlets, vegetarian
For the Grape, Elderflower & Fennel Seed Compote
- about 400 gr seedless white grapes, stemmed & halved
- 50 gr caster sugar
- 3 tbsp elderflower cordial
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, roughly crushed in a mortar & pestle
Stir the grapes and sugar in a large saucepan so all the grapes are coated and set aside for 5 minutes. Add the elderflower cordial and half of the crushed fennel seeds. (Keep the rest for sprinkling on the tarts later).
Bring to a boil over a medium high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the syrup thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 20 -25 minutes. Pour the compote into a sieve over a bowl to collect the syrup and let the grapes drain well.
Store the grapes and syrup, covered, separately in the fridge until needed.
For the Tartlets
- 1 block frozen puff pastry, defrosted in the fridge overnight
- flour for dusting
- 1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash
- 6 or 7 5mm thick triangular slices of Manchego cheese, rind removed
- grape compote (see above)
- the rest of the crushed fennel seeds (see above)
Dust your work surface & rolling-pin with flour and roll out the block of pastry, with the narrowest end facing you, into a long thin rectangle about 2 or 3 mm thick.
See photo above. Place one of the slices of Manchego onto the beginning (nearest you) of the pastry rectangle so it is pointing like an arrow to the right. Cut around the cheese leaving a 5 mm border all the way around. Turn the cheese arrow round so it is pointing to the left above the first triangle and do the same. Continue alternating like this until you have run out of pastry. You should get 6 or 7 triangles.
Score a 5 mm border with sharp knife on each pastry triangle but don’t cut all the way through. Trim the short side of the triangle to make it neat. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 220 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place your pastry triangles on it, spaced apart. Put 1 small teaspoon of grape compote in the middle of each of the triangles and spread it out slightly. Don’t go into the 5mm border.
Brush the pastry borders with egg wash and sprinkle a few of the crushed fennel seeds on the borders too (save some for garnishing the finished tart). Cook for about 12 minutes until browned and risen. Keep an eye on them though.
You can keep them like this until you are ready to serve. Then preheat the oven again if necessary, top each with a slice of Manchego and bake for another 2 minutes, just until the cheese melts.
Top with another teaspoon or so of the compote and sprinkle with a little of the crushed fennel seeds. Serve on a flat plate with a simple green salad and drizzle over the grape and elderflower syrup. If your syrup has set in the fridge just heat it up with a bit more elderflower cordial.
These make a great light lunch or starter but you could also quite easily serve them as a dessert/cheese course. They’ve got that sweet cheesey danish pastry feel that would work for afternoon tea too.
They taste just as good at room temperature and would be perfect for a summer picnic with some sparkling elderflower cordial or a nice bottle of chilled cava.
Buen Provecho!!
Things that made me smile today….
Our new friend the Shetland pony. He likes us because we take him carrots.
The Washer Up calls him “Donkey” (from Shrek), I think it might be the teeth!!
Buen Fin de Semana!
The grapes on the vines look so beautiful. I don’t think i have ever seen that. The tartlets look deliicous!
Such nice pictures, although I now long for cool enough weather to want to walk the dog, need a big glass of riesling and am hungry.
I know the feeling!!
What an interesting dish. This looks so pretty, and sounds wonderful!
This looks amazing. I have champagne grapes coming right now and I’m excited.
Lucky you! Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Absolutely going to give this one a go. Very excited to get new interesting recipes. Thanks!
Your welcome!
Sounds like a wonderful combination! Yum!
This looks like a wonderful combination of flavours! I’ll have to check my local Ikea to see if they carry elderflower cordial so I can try out this recipe… especially since I’d been meaning to hunt some down to make elderflower spritzers anyways.
Elderflower spritzers sound like a wonderful idea!
MMm, manchego cheese is my favorite! I love the sound of this recipe! Thanks for sharing.
When I worked at a tapas restaurant, I would eat Manchego throughout my entire shift to keep my energy up! If only the chefs would have made tarts like this!
mmmm… grapes! This dish looks delicious, and your pictures are always so beautiful 🙂 amazing post!
Thank you!
Lovely, lovely dish – when my grapes are ready will give this a go. They´re muscat, so should be a lovely taste. I love that Ikea Elderflower cordial! Maybe we´ll bump into each other one day in Ikea in Malaga buying grill pans and cordial!
I don’t know what I’d do without Ikea! I’m always buying something for the kitchen in there, usually bowls & plates for props!!
The grape compote sounds wonderful and I am so envious of your Manchego cheese, you need a small mortgage to buy it here in NZ.
That looks so delicious! Can’t wait to try!! I’m new to blogging and love checking out everyone’s foodie blogs here on wordpress. Could you please check out http://shecooksandheeats.wordpress.com/ and provide some feedback on how to gain more exposure? Thanks
Sounds like a nice combination of flavors. I envy you again that you have that luxury – fresh fruit 🙂
That’s a piece of heaven on plate!
mmm this does sound good. I will be adding this to my recipes to try. Love your new friend.
Amazing. I feel like I say that same thing all the time on your posts. But really, your photos and food are ALWAYS amazing.
Liking are idea of this tartlets and the fennel seed will add so much flavor to it !
Those slices look so amazing 🙂 It sounds so juicy and aromatic 🙂
Stop this, I’m spending all my time in the kitchen as it is, but……..just this one more time, sounds and looks DE VINE !!!(good pun hey??).
Well done on you wordpress stuff and look out Nigella, my girls gonna do it without the twinsets !! xx
This looks so fresh and summery (and quite fancy, i feel guests would be quite impressed if I served this up). Especially like the edition of elderflower cordial!
Mmmm..this tart looks fabulous!
Gorgeous tartlet! I love the combo of cheese and grapes. But I love the picture of the donkey even more! Too cute. 🙂
Manchego cheese is one of my favorites. Grapes are great to cook with–I’ve used them before in a balsamic reduction sauce and they were delicious. The photos of the pony are hilarious, especially the one of him eating the carrot!
LOL at the pony close-up. I’ve never seen a tart with these flavors and I’d be the 1st in line to try it if I did. So creative :).
This is amazing. I love cheese but I haven’t tried Manchego before and will definitely look for it. This is such a lovely tartlets and I would love to have a piece (for sure, possibly two piece easily). All these pictures made me super hungry and craving for this!
Woah! I’ve been away form the blogosphere for a while (toddler is a bit demanding… :P) and I must say I missed a lot of wonderful posts!! I wish I had time to read them all!!
I love cooking with grapes: they add a very particular flavor to dishes. Glad you have ripe grapes over there. Here you can find some, but not that much, actually. Have a nice day! Cheers! 🙂
I’ve never seen a grape compote before- Fascinating! I can imagine it would be fantastic paired with all sorts of both sweet and savory dishes.
Delicious recipe for yummy Manchego cheese! In the USA you can buy Authentic Manchego cheese at http://www.rapososgourmet.com or check them out at Amazon.com storefront with 99% customer satisfaction!
Mmmm that looks so delicious… And the photos are fantastic as well!
This sounds great! Love manchego….