Sweet Idea for a Savoury Starter

Personally, I think one of the best things in the world is a warm (but not piping hot) apple tarte tatin served with a good dollop of quality vanilla ice cream.  There is the soft and flaky pastry against cooked apples and sweet warm caramel.  Plus a contrasting icyness from the ice cream.  It's making me drool as I write.  I have played around with fruit over the years, using pears, plums and most recently, rhubarb (dear reader, you are probably now getting to know that I love this pink weed).  But never have I tried to make a savoury tarte tatin.  I have read recipes and had them on the backburner, but for some reason I have never got round to it until this afternoon. 

I had puff pastry.  I had peppers.  I had my new individual tart tins.  What more inspiration does a girl need?  Plus, it killed the hours whilst Mr B was engrossed in the FA Cup semi-final, which I'm afraid appeals about as much to me as a ready-made microwave lasagne.  That is, not much.

So on went the oven, and out came the rolling pin to make Individual Caramelised Pepper and Thyme Tarte Tatins (makes 2)

2 peppers (different colours make it prettier!)
1 tsp brown sugar
small knob of butter
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme
150g puff pastry
You will also need two individual tart tins.  Mine are shown below.  They are about 10cm in diameter.

1) Cut the pepper into long slices, and preheat the oven to 180C

2) Put the butter and sugar into a frying pan and heat until bubbling, then add the peppers.  Cook for a couple of minutes on a high heat and then add the balsamic vinegar and thyme.  Turn the heat down slightly, add salt to season and leaveto cook until the peppers are relatively pliable and are browned.

3) Meanwhile, roll out the puff pastry and cut two circles large enough to top the tart tins.  Prick with a fork.

4) Once the peppers are cooked, divide them between the tins.  I made sure my bottom layer of peppers were all skin down so it was more presentable when turned out.  Once the tins are filled, chop up the remaining pepper and fill in any gaps in the pepper.  Top with the puff pastry, pushing it into the edges of the tin.

5) Cook in the oven for 20- 25 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden.  Remove and leave for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

6) To serve, simply invert the tins onto the serving plate and the tatin should easily come out of the tin.  If not, slide a knife aroud the edges and try again.

As I have been writing this, I have found out that Portsmouth have just scored a penalty against Tottenham.  This is not good news and will certainly put Mr B out of sorts :-(  Let me go and put the kettle on to make him a consoling cup of tea...