Crispy Phyllo tartlettes with Cherry tomatoes, Mozzarella & Anchovies

These may seem finicky and like they take a lot of trouble but I can assure you that could not be further from the truth. These gorgeous and delicious tartlettes are so easy to make, I would trust my 19-year old brother to do it (please note that my brother can barely make himself toast and he’s a master at making 2-minute noodles!

What is important to remember when working with phyllo is that whatever filling you add needs to be relatively dry or else the pastry will go soggy and that kind of defeats the purpose as you want the pastry to stay beautiful and crisp.

These tarts are the perfect thing to serve for a weekend lunch with a salad or as a starter and they are relatively healthy. I used Fior Di Latte (and only 70g for the 3 tarts) and butter for brushing the phyllo but I wrote those off as the necessary fat and protein I need with my lunch. The anchovies are optional but I promise you they take this from great to fantastic! It’s also incredibly easy to feed a crowd with this as you just add more ingredients, nothing is specific so work on what your taste buds are telling you!

Ingredients:

Phyllo pastry cut into squares that will fit your tart tin/muffin tray (you need 3 squares per tart) (I used Mediterranean Delicacies‘ Phyllo pastry)
melted butter for brushing the pastry
cherry tomatoes, halved
Fior di Latte (or other Mozzarella), cut into cubes
fresh basil, finely sliced
1 Mediterranean Delicacies anchovy fillet per tart
salt & pepper to taste
a few drops of lemon juice per tart

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°c.
2. Brush the tart tin/muffin tray with butter then layer the phyllo pastry squares, brushing with melted butter in between each layer.
3. Combine the tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and anchovy fillets in a bowl. Season to taste and add lemon juice.
4. Spoon some of the filling into each prepared tart case and place in the oven.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the cheese has melted.
6. Remove from the oven and serve.

Mediterranean Delicacies can be found at select Pick n Pay, Shoprite Checkers, Spar, Fruit & Veg City and independent retailers nationwide.