William Sonoma Blue Cheese Tartlets Appetizer

8 oz (250 g) commercial puff pastry
3 oz (100 g) spinach or Swiss chard (silverbeet), trimmed
1 egg
2/3 cup (5 fl oz/150 ml) heavy (double) cream
¾ cup (3 oz/100 g) freshly grated Emmenthaler cheese
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 oz (100 g) Roquefort cheese, crumbled [blue cheese works too]
2 tablespoons pine nuts

Defrost the puff pastry in the refrigerator or at room temperature.

Preheat an oven to 425°F (225°C). Bring a large saucepan filled with water to a boil. Plunge the spinach or Swiss chard into the boiling water and cook for 30 seconds. Immediately drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to halt the cooking. Drain again, pressing against the greens to force out as much water as possible; set aside.

Break the egg into a bowl. Add the cream, Emmenthaler cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste and beat with a fork until completely blended. Coarsely chop the spinach or chard and add it to the bowl; stir well.

On a lightly floured board, roll the dough out as thinly as possible. With a fluted pastry cutter about 1¼ inches (4 cm) in diameter, cut out 18 dough rounds [I use a drinking glass that’s about 2-3 inches in diameter]. Use the rounds to line 18 individual tartlet pans or the wells in tartlet trays or miniature muffin pans [we use miniature muffin pans]. If using the former, arrange the lined pans on a large baking sheet. Spray some PAM into the pan. Fill each lined pan with some Roquefort cheese, then with some of the egg mixture and scatter a few pine nuts on top. Place the tartlets in the oven and bake until the filling sets and the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Makes 18 tartlets; serves 6