Baby Bella Mushroom Tart Recipe

Making savory tarts doesn't require a specific recipe. The basic dish consists of a puff pastry shell filled with your favorite mixture and topped with vegetables. I had Baby Bella mushrooms on hand, so I made a version using them along with an artichoke pesto.

The pesto is a combination of artichoke hearts, lemon, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil. To soften the pesto, I added mascarpone cheese. I topped the tart with the Baby Bella mushrooms and roasted red bell peppers. Cheddar cheese was the finishing touch so the filling formed one piece.

Gorgonzola Pear Pizza Recipe

It's almost the end of grilling season. If you’re looking to make the most of the little sunshine and few warm days we have left, I would suggest making a pizza on your grill. To start the pizza, I grilled flat bread until it almost turned into a cracker. I decided to go with blue cheese and pear flavors, because the two pair incredibly well. I would have used Gorgonzola as a topping but my local market only carried Fourme d'Ambert, which is a raw French blue cheese (equally delicious). I broke the traditional rules for pizza and spread béchamel sauce along with caramelized onions in place of the standard tomato sauce.

This is an easy, light meal and it's a perfect recipe for a warm, summer day. Enjoy!

Raspberry Cheese Pinwheel Appetizers

They may seem like an odd couple, but I paired raspberry and blue cheese to create these great party appetizers. First, I made a raspberry salad, tossed with pickled red onions, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and candied walnuts. To make them easier to serve, I wrapped the raspberries in lavash flat bread and rolled them into pinwheel appetizers.

I secured the appetizers with party picks, so they would look elegant passed around on trays. They are great appetizers for finger food buffet parties and take no time to assemble. Fruits don't have to be used only in desserts!

Blue Cheese Pasta Sauce Recipe

Blue cheese sauce isn't what you would call low-calorie, but it's certainly very tasty. Instead of the usual Gruyère cheese, I used roquefort cheese in a Mornay sauce, which is basically a béchamel (creamy sauce made of flour, butter and milk) with cheese. It's not the authentic French sauce but my husband Lulu and his little sister Sunny loved the strong flavor of blue cheese.

I poured the blue cheese sauce over riccioli pasta and topped with a brunoise, which is a blend of similarly-sized and shaped diced vegetables (I used orange bell peppers, crimini mushrooms, zucchini, jiacama and carrots). The addition of the jicama adds body and crunch to the vegetarian pasta meal. I also finished the dish with crumbled blue cheese as a reminder of the flavor from the creamy pasta sauce.

Indian Style Eggplant Appetizers (Baigan Bharta Puff Pastry Recipe)

I love eggplant, especially in the form of a spread. Baji, my husband's late grandmother used to make the best one, called baigan bharta. I still make this dish very often, but when I use it as a filling (as I did today) I tweak it with a few substitutions. Specifically, instead of using yogurt, I used cream cheese and blue cheese in the eggplant spread.

I created puff pastry appetizers that bake in no time and filled them with the yummy eggplant. I topped each savory tartlet with crumbled blue cheese as a reminder of the flavor and cilantro as garnish. I was lucky to have any left for pictures, because Lulu and the girls attacked them as soon as they came out of the oven. Whether you serve them in puff pastry or go the more traditional route and prepare a bowl along with some pita bread, it’ll be a hit at your house too.