These Savory pear Tartlets make for a perfect appetizer for a cocktail party, potluck or holiday dinner!
This appetizer recipe uses puff pastry dough topped with a sweet and tangy pear chutney, crumbled blue cheese, toasted walnuts, thyme and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. The combination of sweet, salty, tangy and crunchy is simply divine. It's an easy recipe that looks fancy and sophisticated. These pear puff pastries make for delicious hors d'oeuvres and are a great recipe for entertaining at home.
For another yummy bite-sized appetizer, try our Mini Mushroom Pies with Thyme!
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Ingredients for This Recipe
To save time, we used pre-made frozen puff pastry dough for this recipe. It's quick, easy, super flaky and so delicious! The puff pastry makes for the perfect vessel for the sweet pear chutney and sharp, salty gorgonzola cheese. See how we shaped these Savory Pear Tartlet shells below.
- Sherry - Make sure you are using sherry cooking wine and NOT sherry vinegar!
- Balsamic Glaze or Honey - Not pictured but highly-recommended!
Tools of The Trade
These Pear Tartlets require a few special hand tools. Make sure you have everything you need before starting to make this recipe.
- Ruler - To make perfectly bite-sized tartlets that bake evenly, we recommend measuring your pastry dough.
- Sharp Knife - Use a sharp knife to cut the chilled pastry dough straight up and down. For the flakiest layers, avoid dragging a knife horizontally through the dough.
- Cookie Cutter - Using a smaller cookie cutter to perforate the pastry helps to create a little cup that holds all of your fillings in place. If you don't have the right sized cookie cutter, you can use a sharp paring knife to cut a square border in your pastry squares.
- Fork - Use the tines of a fork to poke holes in the center of the dough.
- Pastry Brush - Brushing the edges of the dough with egg wash creates an attractive, shiny gloss.
How To Make These Mini Pear Puff Pastries
While these Savory Pear Tartlets with blue cheese and walnuts may look and taste fancy - they're actually pretty easy to make. Here are some step-by-step photos of how it's done.
The Finishing Touches:
These pastries are topped with toasted walnuts and fresh thyme leaves. The flavors go with the pear and blue cheese so well. For the walnuts, we recommend chopping the walnuts before toasting them in a hot oven for 5 - 7 minutes. If needed, after chopping the walnuts, you can shake them in a fine-mesh strainer to remove any fine dust and particles that could burn in the oven. Toasting the walnuts after they have been chopped brings out more toasty flavor and adds a great crunch to the Pear Tarts. Fresh thyme leaves add a subtle herbaceous flavor and a little pop of green.
To finish these Savory Pear Tartlets we recommend a generous drizzle of balsamic glaze or warm honey. Both are delicious! For a tangy, sweet and savory finish, you can make your own balsamic reduction using our easy recipe.
Easy Balsamic Glaze (Reduction)
Balsamic Glaze is an easy, 1 ingredient recipe that can add a delicious, elegant drizzle to countless sweet & savory creations!
Share Your Success!
These Savory Pear Tartlets with Gorgonzola, Walnuts & Thyme make for a delicious appetizer. We love to make them for holiday gatherings and the pastries are perfect with a glass of wine or sparkling cider. When this recipe makes its way to your table, be sure to drop us a star rating! And, as always, mention @foodworthfeed or tag #foodworthfeed in your Instagram posts and stories! We’d love to feature you on social! We love having a seat at your table, you’ll always have one at ours. Cheers!
More Appetizer Recipes!
- Golden Beet Salad
- Grilled Peach & Burrata Bruschetta with Prosciutto
- Whipped Ricotta & Grilled Asparagus Toast
- Beautiful Blood Orange Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
Check out our collections of Main Courses, Desserts, Brunch & Cocktails for more yummy recipes!
Recipe
Savory Pear Tartlets with Gorgonzola, Walnut & Thyme
Special Equipment
- Ruler
- Sharp Knife
- Pastry Brush
- 1½ Inch Cookie Cutter (About 3½ centimeters) Or a Sharp Paring Knife
Ingredients
Pear Chutney
- 2 Tablespoons cooking oil (We used walnut oil. Vegetable, grapeseed or olive oil will also work well.)
- 1 small shallot finely diced
- 2 Bosc pears cored and small diced
- ¼ Cup brown sugar
- ¼ Cup sherry cooking wine
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- fine kosher salt* to taste
- Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Savory Pear Tartlets
- 1 package Puff Pastry 2 sheets thawed from frozen, cold
- 1 recipe Pear Chutney chilled
- Egg Wash (See Note: a.)
- ½ Cup gorgonzola cheese crumbled
- ½ Cup walnuts finely chopped and toasted
- 4 - 5 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
- 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Glaze or warmed honey optional
Instructions
Pear Chutney
- Gather, measure and prepare the Pear Chutney ingredients as listed.
- In a medium skillet, heat cooking oil over medium-low heat. Add shallot and saute until soft and beginning to caramelize.
- Add diced pears and brown sugar. Cook until pears are beginning to soften and caramelize. Add sherry cooking wine and simmer until the pan is nearly dry.
- Stir in flour and cook for one minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove pear chutney from the heat and transfer to fridge or freezer until chilled. This chutney can be made a day or two ahead of time.
Savory Pear Tartlets
- Gather, measure and prepare the Savory Pear Tartlets ingredients as listed. For step-by-step photo instructions, see the How To Make Mini Pear Puff Pastries section of this recipe post.
- Arrange a rack in the center third of the oven and preheat to 425° Fahrenheit (220° celsius).
- Working with one sheet of puff pastry at a time, arrange the dough on a lightly floured work surface. If at any point the pastry starts to become warm or sticky, return it to the refrigerator to chill for a few minutes. Use a ruler and a sharp knife to cut 2 inch by 2 inch (5 centimeter by 5 centimeter) squares of pastry dough.
- Use a pastry brush to egg wash the edges of each pastry square. Next, use a 1 ½ inch (3 ½ centimeter) cookie cutter (or sharp paring knife) to score the center of each puff pastry bite. Do not cut all the way through the pastry. Press the cookie cutter (or knife) about two-thirds of the way through the pastry. Use a fork to dock (poke holes) into the center of each tart shell.
- Transfer puff pastry shells to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place a heaping teaspoon of pear chutney in the center of each tartlet.Top each tartlet with a sprinkle of crumbled gorgonzola cheese.
- Chill pastries in the refrigerator for about ten minutes before baking. Bake pastries until the pastry has risen and is golden brown, about 18 minutes.
- Allow the Savory Pear Tartlets to cool slightly before topping with toasted walnuts and fresh thyme leaves. Serve pastries slightly warmed or at room temperature with a drizzle of balsamic glaze or honey. Bon Apetit!
Notes
*Unless otherwise noted, foodworthfeed recipes are developed using Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt. If using iodized or table salt, reduce quantities by about half.
Julie Booth
This recipe sounds great. I'm curious about adding the flour to the chutney? What's the purpose and can I skip it? Thank you.
foodworthfeed
Thank you for checking this recipe out! We hope you make it!
The flour in the chutney helps to thicken and absorb some of the excess liquid that can make the pastry soggy during baking. You can experiment leaving it out (but the pastry has flour/gluten regardless). You could also try adding a small amount of cornstarch or arrowroot powder as a substitute thickening agent. Hope this helps! Please share your results!