Q. Have I got an appetizer for you! You make it with puff pastry and red onions coated with lots of olive oil and a mixture of goat cheese, pesto and whipping cream. If only I had a light version to serve to my health-conscious friends.
A. I made this recipe for a recent dinner party. Changing a recipe, not knowing if it’s going to turn out right before a party–hey, it’s fun to live on the edge. Luckily, this time it worked like a charm.
I turned to an old standby, reduced-fat crescent rolls, instead of the frozen puff pastry normally called for. I left out the egg that was brushed on the dough before baking. I cut the goat cheese down a bit and added some light cream cheese to cut down on cost and give a little less aggressive goat flavor. Instead of whipping cream, I used a blend of fat-free sour cream and low-fat milk. This gave a mixture a nice spreadable texture, bright green color and–most important–fabulous flavor.
The first time I tested this I ended up with way more spread than I needed to cover the dough. I used the leftover spread as a dressing for a pasta salad. So I halved the filling ingredients below.
Send your recipe for revision to: Recipe Doctor, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL, 60611, or go to www.recipedoctor.com.
Goat cheese and pesto tart
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Yield: 12 appetizer slices
2 medium red onions, unpeeled, each cut into 12 wedges
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 tube (8 ounces) reduced-fat crescent roll dough
1 package (2.5 ounces) soft goat cheese
3 tablespoons light cream cheese
2 tablespoons purchased pesto sauce
1 tablespoon each: light or fat-free sour cream, milk
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Toss onion wedges with oil in medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Arrange onions in single layer on baking sheet; bake until undersides are golden and onions are very tender, about 25 minutes. Cool.
2. Unroll dough but do not separate into triangles; press into a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 8 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
3. Combine cheeses, pesto, sour cream and milk in a blender or food processor until smooth (or stir ingredients together in medium bowl). Spread mixture evenly over the crust.
4. Remove peel and stem ends from roasted onions. Fan wedges, browned side up, over cheese mixture. Bake tart until cheese appears to set, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Cut into wedges.
Nutrition information per serving:
120 calories, 54% calories from fat, 7 g fat, 2.3 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 3.6 g protein, 0.4 g fiber
