Puff Pastry Tarts Are Seriously Simple!
Raise your hand if you are all about that puff pastry life! It’s seriously one of our favorite ingredients of all time, and can be used to make the most incredible, flaky little tarts. Today, we’re making a puff pastry tart with pears, blue cheese, crispy pancetta, fresh herbs, and honey!
Added bonus? They’re individual (mini portions) so you don’t have to share!
Scoring the edges of the puff pastry tart with a knife before baking will both guide you as to where to place the pear filling, but also help the edges of the puff pastry rise up as it bakes. Crispy, golden brown perfection!
Ingredients For This Puff Pastry Tart Recipe
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Pancetta
- Puff pastry
- All-purpose flour
- Fresh pears
- Blue cheese or gorgonzola cheese
- Melted butter
- Flaky sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh thyme
- Honey
The combination of salty and sweet here is so completely satisfying! The drizzle of honey at the end? It totally takes the puff pastry tart over the top!
How To Make A Killer Puff Pastry Tart
- Preheat the oven to 400F, then line two baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cook pancetta. Heat olive oil in a small skillet. Add pancetta and cook until almost crispy, about 4 minutes, stirring often. Do not overcook, the pancetta will continue to crisp up in the oven. Drain on a paper towel
- Cut the puff pastry. Unfold the puff pastry and roll out into a 12” x 14” rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the puff pastry into 8 equal rectangles, 6” x 3 ½” each. Transfer puff pastry to baking sheets, placing four on each tray.
- Score the puff pastry. Use a knife to score a smaller rectangle around the perimeter of the pastry, leaving about ¼” of dough on the outside. Use a fork to gently poke the center rectangle of each pastry.
- Assemble mini tarts. Fan out a few pear slices and layer on top of puff pastry, trying not to go outside the scored line. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp crispy pancetta and 1 Tbsp of blue cheese or gorgonzola Repeat with remaining tarts.
- Bake puff pastry tarts. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate pans and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until puff pastry is golden brown.
- Cool, then serve. Let cool for 5 minutes, then top each tartlet with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, some freshly ground black pepper, thyme leaves, and a drizzle of honey. Serve immediately!
And it’s not just pears and blue cheese and pancetta that make for a stellar savory tart! You could fill puff pastry with just about anything and it would be fab. We are loving these caramelized leek tarts so much!
Tips For Working With Puff Pastry
- Make sure puff pastry is completely thawed (preferably overnight in a refrigerator) before working with it. If it’s still partially frozen, do not try to unfold.
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour before beginning to help ensure the puff pastry doesn’t stick.
- To help the pastry puff up, use a sharp paring knife to score the dough creating a border around the perimeter of the tart, then poke the center with the tines of a fork. Easy!
- Serve freshly baked puff pastry as soon as possible! The longer cooked puff pastry sits around, the less likely it is to be super crispy.
Light, crispy, salty, a little sweet, and adored by 2 out of 3 children in the Well Seasoned house! That’s a glowing seal of approval (trust me on that one). Puff pastry tarts, you get to stay!
Love puff pastry? Check out our potato galette or these adorable mini Israeli cheese bourekas that always disappear so quick!
If you make this Puff Pastry Tart recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below!
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For more appetizers, check out the following recipes:
Pear tartlets with pancetta and blue cheese
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 oz pancetta cubed
- 14 oz puff pastry thawed
- all-purpose flour for dusting
- 2 pears thinly sliced into ½ moon wedges
- ¼ lb blue cheese or gorgonzola
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- Malden sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Thyme
- Honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook until almost crispy, about 4 minutes, stirring often. Do not overcook, the pancetta will continue to crisp in the oven. Remove from heat and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Cut the puff pastry. Dust a work surface with a little flour. Unfold the puff pastry and roll out into a 12” x 14” rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the puff pastry into 8 equal rectangles, 6” x 3 ½” each. Transfer puff pastry to baking sheets, placing four on each tray.
- Score the puff pastry. Use a knife to score a smaller rectangle around the perimeter of the pastry, leaving about ¼” of dough on the outside. Use a fork to gently poke the center of each pastry.
- Assemble the tarts. Fan out a few pear slices and place on top of pastry, trying not to go outside the scored line. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp cooked pancetta and 1 Tbsp of blue cheese on top. Repeat with remaining pastries.
- Bake the savory tarts. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate pans and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until puff pastry is golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, then top each puff pastry tart with a pinch of flaky sea salt, black pepper, thyme leaves, and a drizzle of honey. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Make sure puff pastry is completely thawed (preferably overnight in a refrigerator) before working with it. If it’s still partially frozen, do not try to unfold.
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour before beginning to help ensure the puff pastry doesn’t stick.
- To help the pastry puff up, use a sharp paring knife to score the dough creating a border around the perimeter of the tart, then poke the center with the tines of a fork. Easy!
- Serve freshly baked puff pastry as soon as possible! The longer cooked puff pastry sits around, the less likely it is to be super crispy.
Nutrition
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This recipe was originally posted in March 2018 and has since been updated to provide better instructions, making it easier for you to recreate at home!
