These mini shallot and Chèvre tatins are perfect served as a starter or an appetiser for a party. Easy and quick to prepare they are really delicious and elegant! The mini shallot tatins are similar to the classic onion tatin but smaller and more delicate. They have a base of flaky puff pastry topped with caramelized shallots and a small piece of Chèvre. I often serve them with a board of cheese as a starter along with cured meat and other Italian antipasti, although I know it could sounds weird because in the UK cheese is served at the end of the meal, after the dessert. Any country has its own tradition so, I’ll let you decide when serving them 😀 But these shallot tatins them because they are really good!
Ingredients and tins
Preparing the tatins could seem complicated but it’s actually very simple. I put some photos in the recipe below so you can understand better the method. I used 10 small 6 cm round tartlet tins but of course you can use smaller tins or only one big tin. Then you’ll need shallots, fresh thyme, goat cheese, butter, sugar and puff pastry. If you don’t like Chèvre cheese you can swap it with Brie or Camembert. I sometimes use Stilton or Gorgonzola but the goat cheese definitely works better because it’s more delicate and doesn’t overcome the sweetness of the caramelized shallots.
Puff pastry or brisèe?
For the sweet tatin I always prefer to use brisèe pastry: it’s lighter, holds better juicy and wet fillings like apples and pears and it’s easier to slice. But when it comes to savoury tarte tatins I go for the puff pastry. It’s more buttery and flaky and goes so well with cheese. In both cases remember to cut out a disc slightly larger than the tins because it has to hold the filling.
Once you’ve decided what type of dough to use you can prepare your own or use the store bought one. It’s up to you, of course homemade pastry tastes better but we don’t always have enough time to prepare it so we can cheat and use the supermarket one 😉 When I was in Italy running my own patisserie I used to make my own pastry, but now I often use the ready rolled one. It’s quicker and it tastes good so, why not?
Coming back to the recipe, once the tins are cold enough to handle transfer them on a baking tray. Season the shallots with salt and pepper and scatter over some thyme leaves. Then add a piece of Chèvre on the shallots and cover each tin with a disc of puff pastry. Bake into the preheated oven until golden and puffed up. Finally invert the mini tatins onto a plate and serve warm.
Mini shallot and Chèvre tatins
Ingredients
- unsalted butter: 25 grams
- granulated sugar: 25 grams
- ready-rolled puff pastry: 250 grams
- shallots sliced: 8
- Chevre goat cheese: 150 grams
- fresh thyme
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Put the butter and the sugar in a small bowl and mix it using a spoon until smooth.
- Spread this mixture on the bottom of 10 6 cm round tartlet tins.
- Arrange the sliced shallots on the butter mixture. Then put the tins into a pan and heat it on the hob. Wait until the butter melts and turns slightly brown. remove from the heat and let cool down.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Once the tins are cool enough to handle season the shallots with salt and pepper and add some thyme leaves. Put a piece of Chèvre in the centre on the shallots.
- Roll out the puff pastry, prick it with a fork and cut out 10 discs using a round 8 cm cookie cutter. Cover each tin with the pastry, tucking it around the filling.
- Bake into the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and puffed.
- Once baked allow the tins to cool down a little then run a knife along the edges of the pastry and invert the mini tatins onto a plate.
