Beautifully Special Little Puff Pastry Pea Tarts

These dainty tarts are made with a minted pea purée nestled inside crisp puff pastry, baked until golden and risen. They're fresh, simple, and quietly charming – perfect for lunch, light supper, or a picnic with a view. The kind of thing that looks a little fancy, but feels familiar.

Close up of red onion and basil on top of an individual puff pastry tart

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Course Dinner, Main

Cuisine British Home Cooking

Servings people

Calories 638

Ingredients

Ingredients for Step 1

350 g new potatoes

Ingredients for Step 2

150 g peas
30 ml soya milk
4 g nutritious yeast
⅕ tsp salt
5 g mint sauce
1 pinch ground black pepper

Ingredients for Step 3

110 g puff pastry sheet | use gluten-free if required

Ingredients for Step 5

8 units chestnut mushrooms
120 g red onion | unpeeled weight

Ingredients for Step 6

200 ml boiling water
5 g stock cube
1 pinch dried rosemary
1 pinch dried oregano
5 ml white wine vinegar
7 g white miso paste
¾ tsp soft brown sugar
¼ tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp gravy browning
12 g cornflour | + water to loosen

Ingredients for Step 8

10 ml rapeseed oil
1 pinch salt

Ingredients for Step 9

3 g fresh herbs | basil, parsley or chives or a mix
40 g mixed leaf salad
60 g cherry tomatoes

Instructions

1. Preparations before you start

Place the oven shelf in the middle of the oven, and a second shelf underneath.
Switch on the oven to preheat to 200℃ fan / 220℃
Retrieve the pastry from the fridge and put it on the work surface to come to room temperature. It's easier to unroll if it's a little warmer. Best to leave it in the cardboard box though.
Get the new potatoes organised now. Put them into a saucepan of cold water and bring them to a simmer whilst you're completing the steps below.
350 g new potatoes

2. Make the pea tart filling

Add the ingredients to a bowl or jug and stir with a spoon to mix.
150 g peas, 30 ml soya milk, 4 g nutritious yeast, ⅕ tsp salt, 5 g mint sauce
Plug in the stick blender and think for a moment: how would you like the pea purée to be? Smooth? Coarse? Decide and then blend in short bursts. I put the stick blender in, completely vertically and 'pulse-blend' for a couple of seconds. Then, I move the stick to a different place and 'pulse-blend' again. And repeat. Blending in short bursts means you feel in control and the pea purée doesn't go everywhere! It's quite dry you see, so you need to take care. I like my pea purée to be quite coarse and textured with some peas left whole to pop in the mouth.
When you've finished blending, add the black pepper and stir to mix it through.
1 pinch ground black pepper

3. Prepare the pastry for filling

Unroll the pastry on a chopping board, and using a sharp knife, cut two squares, roughly 11cm on each side. Cut two extra strips of pastry, 11cm long x 1.5cm wide.
110 g puff pastry sheet
Roll up the remaining pastry and wrap it in clingfilm now. Put it back in the fridge; you can label and freeze it later.
Take the muffin tray and line one of the holes with pastry. You'll need to fold and persuade it in a bit. Leave an empty muffin hole around the muffin hole you've filled and then line a second hole. Arrange the pastry that isn't inside the hole attractively and evenly. You'll get the hang of it.
Take a non-stick baking sheet. Take a pastry strip, one end in the fingers of each hand, and twist the pastry. Place the twist onto the baking sheet, slightly pressing the ends down, just a little firmer. Do the second strip.

4. Check oven is at temperature; fill pastry and bake

Check your oven is at the correct temperature. Please don't fill the pastry with pea purée until the oven is at temperature. Pastry likes to be kept cold before cooking so if you're waiting for the oven, pop the muffin and baking trays into the fridge for a few minutes.
Once your oven is at the correct temperature and taking care to avoid spilling pea purée on the pastry, use a teaspoon to fill the holes with pea purée. Pack the holes fully. Be aware that the purée will reduce a little during cooking.
Open the oven door slowly to keep the oven temperature even, and carefully put the tarts onto the middle shelf and the pastry strips onto the lower shelf. Close the oven door equally slowly.
Set a timer for 15 minutes.
Label and re-freeze the pastry now.

5. Prepare the topping

Clean the mushrooms and chop into quarters; put to one side.
Peel and chop the red onion into 2 cm petals; leave on the chopping board.
8 units chestnut mushrooms, 120 g red onion

6. Make the sauce

Into a small stainless steel saucepan, add all the Ingredients for Step 6 APART from the cornflour + water mix. Allow to sit for a couple of minutes to soften everything, and then use a whisk to mix all the ingredients together thoroughly. You want to ensure that the stock cube is broken up completely and that there are no lumps of miso.
200 ml boiling water, 5 g stock cube, 1 pinch dried rosemary, 1 pinch dried oregano, 5 ml white wine vinegar, ¾ tsp soft brown sugar, ¼ tsp lemon juice, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp gravy browning, 12 g cornflour, 7 g white miso paste
Keeping the whisk moving, dribble the cornflour mix slowly into the pan. Dribble it through the end of the whisk. Whisk it in. The gravy is now ready to heat through and thicken later, when the tarts are nearly ready.

7. Check the tarts and sauce on a low heat

After 15 minutes, look through the oven door (assuming it's glass and clean!!) and you'll see the pastry will have risen. The strips will be ready.
Make space for the oven trays and then carefully open the door and remove the strips.
Then bring out the tarts and put them on the work surface. Close the oven door slowly.
Carefully lift the corner of one of the tarts and look at the sides and the underside and check the pastry is cooked and golden brown. Floppy, oily pastry is not cooked. At this stage, your tarts will probably need another 5-10 minutes in the oven, so carefully return to the oven and re-set the timer.
Put a low heat under the sauce and get ready stir it as it thickens.

8. Cook the mushroom and onion topping

Take a small frying pan and heat the oil on a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes. Add the onion petals and a pinch of salt, and toss the onion petals in the oil; cook. Keep tossing the onion for a couple of minutes, watching for them to turn slightly translucent whilst also retaining their shape and texture. Towards the end of that process, add the mushroom segments and keep cooking. Avoid the water coming out of the mushrooms! Avoid that soggy mess! Keep the heat nice and high and keep tossing the pan around to avoid burning.
The tarts will be ready, and the potatoes will be cooked through.
10 ml rapeseed oil, 1 pinch salt

9. Finish and plate

After 20-25 minutes, bring the Pea Tarts out of the oven, and double-check they are cooked. Carefully lift the tarts onto plates and add the onion and mushrooms to the top of the tarts, and finally a pastry strip at a jaunty angle.
Serve the sauce in a jug to pour artfully over the tart, and add the potatoes and the dressed leaves and quartered cherry tomatoes.
3 g fresh herbs, 40 g mixed leaf salad, 60 g cherry tomatoes

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 638kcalCarbohydrates: 85gProtein: 16gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 0.1mgSodium: 1161mgPotassium: 1272mgFiber: 12gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 1031IUVitamin C: 80mgCalcium: 115mgIron: 5mg

Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.