A dog’ s best life starts with the right nutrition
RECIPE COURTESY OF CHRISTMAS AT THE PALACE: A COOKBOOK BY CAROLYN ROBB( WELDON OWEN, 2022); PHOTOGRAPHY BE JOHN KERNICK.
Goat cheese stars with pesto and sun-blushed tomatoes
Time: 40 mins Makes: 24 stars
These can be made in a flash and they will disappear just as fast! You can try many different fillings, but these are particularly colourful and festive.
• Flour, for the work surface
• 1 – 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
• 100g fresh goat cheese
• ¼ cup basil pesto
• ¼ cup sun-blushed( semi-dried) tomatoes in olive oil, drained and finely diced
• Fresh basil sprigs, for garnish
1. On a lightly floured work surface, unroll the sheets of pastry. Using a 7cm( 2¾-inch) star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 24 stars. Carefully transfer each star to a cup in a greased mini-muffin pan, pressing it gently against the bottom and extending the points up the sides to form a tartlet shell. Spoon a generous ½ teaspoon of the cheese onto the bottom of each tartlet shell. Chill for 20 minutes. While the pastry is chilling, preheat the oven to 200 ° C( 180 ° C fan-forced).
2. Once the oven is ready, bake the pastry until golden and crisp, about 12 – 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and spoon about 1 teaspoon of pesto into 12 of the pastry shells, then divide the tomatoes evenly among the remaining shells. Arrange on a platter, scatter the basil around the stars and serve immediately.
A dog’ s best life starts with the right nutrition