Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

Golden puff pastry topped with hazelnut, oregano and spinach pesto, cherry tomatoes,dairy free cheese and black olives. These are delicious hot or cold, and would make for a lovely lunch or quick snack. I chose to make the pesto, so I’ll include the recipe for that, but you can always swap it for shop bought pesto instead. It’s pretty easy to get plant based pesto from most supermarkets now, so just use your favourite

Hazelnut, Oregano & Spinach Pesto

The hazelnuts not only give a delicious nutty flavour to this pesto, they also add a lovely slight sweetness too. Making this pesto vibrant, tasty and suitable for all sorts. Spread it onto sandwiches, use it as a dip, or stir it through cooked pasta

Yield; Roughly 240g pesto Prep time; 5 minutes

You’ll need;

1. 100g roughly chopped baby spinach
2. 40g blanched hazelnuts, chopped
3. 30g dairy free parmesan cheese, grated
4. Three tablespoons of olive oil
5. Three cloves of garlic, minced
6. One teaspoon of dried oregano
7. One teaspoon of dried basil
8. One tablespoon of lemon juice
9. One and a half tablespoons of water
10. Salt and black pepper to taste

Method;

• To make the pesto, all you need to do is add everything listed above into a blender/food processor and blend until you reach your desired consistency. Then once it’s blended, season to taste with salt and black pepper. You may have to pause the blender/food processor a couple of times to scrape down the sides

Puff Pastry Pesto Tartlets

Yield; Six tartlets Cook time; 25 minutes

You’ll need;

1. One 320g sheet of ready rolled puff pastry, most supermarkets will sell ready rolled puff pastry that is accidentally suitable for vegans, due to the use of oil as opposed to butter
2. 50g dairy free pesto, see above for the recipe or use shop bought
3. 50g dairy free cheese, finely grated. I used Cathedral City Plant Based cheese
4. Six cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
5. Three black olives, sliced
6. Salt and black pepper to taste
7. One tablespoon of plant milk, I used Alpro soya milk

Method;

• Start by allowing the puff pastry to come to room temperature before unrolling it. Then slice the pastry into six equal pieces. Use a sharp knife to score around the edges of the pastry. Place each piece of pastry onto a baking tray lined with baking paper
• Then divide the pesto equally onto each piece of pastry. Use the back of teaspoon to gently spread the pesto out evenly onto the pastry
• Top the pesto with some grated cheese, tomatoes and olives. Finally top each tart with a pinch of salt and black pepper, and brush around the edges with a little plant milk
• Bake the tarts at 220°C/200°C fan assisted for 12-15 minutes, or until they’ve risen and the edges are golden brown. Once they’re done, remove them from the oven and give them 10-15 minutes to cool before serving. You can also wait until they’ve fully cooled to room temperature to serve them too

Store any leftover tartlets in the fridge, they should keep well for three or so days

If you do make the pesto and would like some ideas for how to use up the rest, here are some more recipes. Just click the bold, underlined title to jump to the recipe

Chickpea Pesto Pasta Salad; A tasty pasta salad, packed with different flavours and textures, with chickpeas for some plant based protein. This is ideal for lunches, or can be served as a side dish

Cheesy Pesto Pasta; This rich and cheesy pasta bake would great for a filling midweek meal. Especially when served with a fresh green salad and crusty garlic bread

Cheese & Pesto Pastry Tree; This eye catching pastry tree is ideal for sharing, especially as the festive period is right around the corner