Roast Red Pepper and Sundried Tomato Tart

I love roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and puff pastry individually but combining them in a tart seemed like a delicious idea. This is another good hors d'oeuvre or appetizer. If I were to make this again I would layer the roasted red pepper on top of the sundried tomatoes, rather than scattering the tomatoes on top, so they don't burn. You can also add some fresh herbs, bacon pieces, and or goat cheese but I decided to keep the flavors simple.

I use the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets because making puff pastry from scratch takes hours and is a hassle. Each box contains 2 square sheets and each sheet yields 9, around 3 x 3 in tarts. When I first made these, I put the peppers and sun-dried tomatoes on unbaked pieces of puff pastry. Then I ran into the problem of sun-dried tomatoes burning and the puff pastry not puffing. So this can be remedied by first prebaking each piece of puff pastry until they're puffed but not entirely golden brown, around 10 minutes (the baking instructions for the puff pastry states 15 minutes at 400ºF is sufficient so I baked for 10 minutes). The toppings are added to the pastry and the tart is finished baking at a lower temperature.

Roasted Red Pepper and Sundried Tomato Tart
1 sheet puff pastry, cut into 3 x 3 in squares
2 roasted red bell peppers, sliced into strips
2 - 3 Tbsp sun dried tomatoes (Trader Joes jar is excellent), minced

Optional:
Fresh herbs
Goat cheese
Bacon

Keep the puff pastry squares chilled until ready to bake.

Roast the bell peppers. You can do this on a gas stove top or roast under the broiler.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Bake the puff pastry for 10 minutes, until each piece is golden. Remove the pastry and lower the oven temperature to 350ºF.

Spead 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of sundried tomatoes on each piece of puff pastry. Then layer strips of red pepper on top of the tomatoes.

Bake at 350ºF for 5 - 10 minutes, until the tart edges are golden brown.

Serve warm.

Yields 9 tarts