Beetroot and Wensleydale Tartlets

These lovely little tartlets are like a hug in a pastry casing. They do take about an hour to make, but if you put the beetroot on to roast as soon as you get home from work they're really not too time consuming or labour intensive.

Although they sound unhealthy, they contain plenty of fresh veg (onion, spinach, beetroot - and we had ours with a side salad) which I'm sure counterbalances the puff pastry...

The recipe below will make six tartlets, we had two each and we'll have the left overs for lunch tomorrow. You could easily double or even triple the quantities if you wanted to make them for a dinner party.

Beetroot and Wensleydale Tartlets
2 tbsps olive oil
500g beetroot
1 large white onion
200g baby leaf spinach
75g dried cranberries
1 tsp dried thyme
300g wensleydale cheese (or any other crumbly cheese)
320g readymade puff pastry (unless you fancy making your own!)
1 egg, beaten

1. Chop the ends off the beetroot and cut each one into small cubes - about 1cm square. Put into a large ovenproof dish, drizzle with half of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put in the oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, until softened. Leave the oven on.
2. Meanwhile, chop the onion and add to a frying pan with the remaining olive oil. Soften for a couple of minutes, then add the spinach bit by bit until wilted. Remove from the heat.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the beetroot, spinach mix, cranberries, thyme and cubed wensleydale.
4. Unroll the pastry and divide into six. Place a spoonful of the mix into the centre of each square of pastry. Pull up the corners around the filling, then pinch the edges shut.
5. Brush each tartlet with beaten egg, then pop in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until puffed up and golden brown.