This post is sponsored by the Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission. I received a gift card and accessories as reimbursement for ingredients and time.
Our boy is home! We’re so excited to have him in the house again. Now that he’s done with boot camp and advanced school, his next stop is his first full-fledged duty station in Italy. And yes, we will be visiting him there!
We decided to have a welcome home party for our son last weekend. Due to the number of people that wanted to come an open house style worked out the best. We went with lots of appetizers rather than a regular meal, and these little tarts fit right in.
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Thanks to our small burst of summer last week, all the fair weather cravings kicked in early. One of the biggest for me is berries. Fortunately, I live in berry country so I can find local when the season is still a couple of months away. The bag of frozen raspberries I bought was packaged at the cannery that’s only a couple of miles from my house, which I worked at for a summer in high school. They were grown on a farm that’s owned by a family whose kids went to school with mine. I love that.
I had two different flavors of cheese I wanted to try, so I made half with each. One was better than the other, depending on who you asked. My personal favorite was the blue cheese.
Raspberry Jalapeno Cheese Tarts
2 packages mini Fillo shells (15 shells per package)
4 ounces Brie cheese
4 ounces blue cheese
2 cups raspberries (frozen is fine)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 medium jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
toasted almond slices
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Combine the berries, lime juice, jalapeno and sugar in a medium saucepan. I chickened out and only used half of a jalapeno, but I wish I’d used the whole thing. If you’re not into that flavor, this will work just as well with no pepper at all.
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Stir constantly over medium low heat until thickened, 5 – 7 minutes. You can either make the jam ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator or go straight to making the tarts. By the way, it’s also delicious on toast.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Thaw the tart shells, which only takes a few minutes. Cut the cheese in small chunks and drop into the shell. In this photo, the bottom tray is blue cheese and the top is Brie.
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Top the cheese with 1/4 teaspoon of the berry jam.
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Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Remove from the oven and add a couple of almond slices.
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Because my gluten-free daughter was there, I wanted her to be able to try these, but she obviously can’t eat fillo shells. I pulled out some cupcake liners, popped a gluten-free cracker in the bottom and added the same toppings. She declared them a winner.
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These tarts didn’t last long at all, and the most satisfying view I had of them disappearing was this young sailor right here.
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If you like berries as much as I do, check out my previous berrylicious recipes!
Raspberry Poppy Seed Dressing and Marinade
Gluten Free Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
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