Tomato cream tartelettes

Recipes for a sumptuous New Year's Eve family meal or party.

Celebration time - Part 1.

Ingredients (makes about 50):
For the bechamel sauce:
50g unsalted butter
2 1/2 tbsp plain flour
300ml fresh milk
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
A pinch of ground nutmeg

1 packet frozen puff pastry, thawed
10 cherry tomatoes on the vine, halved
1/2 cup dried mint
1/2 cup sea salt

Method:
1. To make the bechamel sauce, melt the butter in a heavy bottom pan, add the flour and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the milk, a bit at a time, and whisk till the mixture is smooth. Cook over a medium-low flame, stirring constantly for 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens (it should drip off a spoon in 1 second).
3. Add the tomato puree, salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir until well mixed. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg C. Roll the pastry to a 5mm thickness. Cut into round pieces with a cookie cutter and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Spread a teaspoon of the sauce on each piece. Bake for 5 minutes, remove from oven and top each tartelette with a tomato, some mint and sea salt. Bake for another 7 minutes until the pastry turns a pale gold.

Tips:
If the bechamel sauce turns lumpy, strain it through a sieve before spreading on the pastry.

Recipe source: Simply Her magazine (Dec 2008)