Mini Tomato-Parmesan Tarts

Are you hosting or attending a New Years eve party tomorrow? If so, or actually even if you just want a delicious snack, I highly recommend this recipe.

I first made these tarts earlier in the month when Tom's family came for Christmas dinner. They were SO easy to make and SO delicious that I decided to add them in to the Christmas dinner for my family. I might just make them again tomorrow night. These could easily be a meal for just me.

Mini Tomato-Parmesan Tarts
Source: Cooking Light, December 2012
Servings: 40 tarts
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Ingredients:

• 3 roma/plum tomatoes, finely diced
• ¼ cup shallots, minced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
• ⅔ cup fresh Parmesan cheese
• pinch each of salt and pepper
• fresh basil leaves, optional 

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Combine the tomatoes, shallots, olive oil, white wine vinegar, and thyme together in a small bowl.
3. Use a 2-inch round cookie cutter to cut rounds out of the puff pastry. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Prick the dough rounds liberally with a fork.
4. Place a heaping teaspoon of the tomato mixture on each tart then top with a pinch of the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the tarts.
5. Bake for 15 minutes then rotate the pan and bake for another 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Add fresh basil leaves to the tarts, then serve.

The really bad thing about this recipe is that they are just so tasty and small that you end up popping 5 of these into your mouth before you've realized that you've ate that many. If you're not a big fan of bruschetta because of the hard bread rounds that it sits upon, this would be the perfect alternative for you.