Skip navigation

Serve elegant hors d’oeuvres at your next party

In his new cookbook, ‘Bite Size,’ the legendary chef Francois Payard shows you how to make delicious appetizers without much fuss. Try these at home

NBC VIDEO
Serve these elegant appetizers
Oct. 24: The "Today" show's Al Roker talks with the legendary chef Francois Payard about his new cookbook, "Bite Size," as he demonstrates some of his hors' d'oeuvres recipes.

Today Show Kitchen

  Recipes from TODAY
Find the recipes featured on Today
TODAY
updated 12:13 p.m. ET Oct. 24, 2006

Everyone loves to attend a cocktail party, but hosting one can be daunting. On “Today’s Kitchen,” we look at how to make hors d'oeuvres for the perfect party. It doesn’t have to be that way, according to the legendary chef Francois Payard. In his new cookbook, “Bite Size: Elegant Recipes for Entertaining,” he shows you how to prepare elegant and delicious appetizers without much fuss. Chef Payard was invited on “Today” to demonstrate some of his dishes. Try these recipes at home:

Tomato, Eggplant, and Goat Cheese Tarts
François Payard’s "Bite Size Elegant Recipes for Entertaining"

Makes 20

Tomato, eggplant, and goat cheese are classic ingredients from the South of France. They are often combined in a tian, which is a gratineed vegetable casserole. The chutney here is the same as the one used for Lamb and Tomato chutney on Cumin Wafers. For a more concentrated tomato flavor, pipe the filling into hollowed-out cherry tomatoes, or spread it on sautéed polenta rounds. Freeze any left over dough.

INGREDIENTS

Savory tarts:

One frozen puff pastry sheet (14 ounces), thawed in the refrigerator
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon lavender honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 Japanese eggplants cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper
3 1/2 ounces fresh goat cheese
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 recipe Tomato Chutney (below)
20 small basil leaves

Tomato chutney:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup diced Spanish onion
8 beefsteak tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
One 3-inch-ling cinnamon stick, cut or snapped in half
One 2-inch-lond piece lemongrass, crushed
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons elderflower syrup (optional)
Fine seal salt
Freshly ground white pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Recipe continues below ↓
advertisement


DIRECTIONS

For savory tarts:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out in all directions until it is ¼ inch thick. Cut out 20 rounds of dough with a 1 ¼-inch cookie cutter.Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet, and place a wire rack over them (this will keep the rounds even and prevent them from rising too high). Bake for 20 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven, take off the wire rack, and let the rounds cool on the baking sheet.

Mix the vinegar and hone together in a small bowl (to make it easier to mix, warm the honey by putting it in the microwave for 20 seconds). Heat the olive oil in a sauté´ pan over medium-high heat. Season the eggplant slices with salt and pepper. Add the honey mixture to the pan and cook to reduce it slightly, about 2 minutes.

Place the goat cheese, parsley, and chopped basil in the bowl of a food processor. Process until everything is well incorporated and the cheese takes a nice bright green color. Fill a plastic pastry bag or resealable plastic bag with the cheese mixture and cut a ¼-inch opening in its tip or corner.

Spoon 1 teaspoon tomato chutney* onto the center of each puff pastry round. Place 1 eggplant slice on top of the chutney, and pipe a dime-size amount of the cheese mixture over the eggplant. Garnish with a basil leaf. Arrange on a platter, and serve at room temperature.

For tomato chutney:
Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon stick, lemongrass, and ginger, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cool slowly, stirring often, for approximately 2 hours, or until the tomatoes thicken to a paste like consistency. Mix in the rice vinegar, and the elderflower syrup if using, and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and let cool. When the chutney has cooled, add the chopped parsley.

MANAGE YOUR RECIPES


Rate this story LowHigh
 • View Top Rated stories