Cute puff pastry tartlets topped with melted cheese and thin slices of rosemary potatoes crisped up in the oven. These cheesy rosemary potato tarts are a perfect appetizer for any meal of holiday feast or just as a snack for your next Aperitivo.
It might be the influence of Italian Aperitivo, but I think that starting a meal with small appetizers is one of the best ways to stimulate the appetite and enjoy the meal even more. Especially if paired with a glass of Prosecco.
In Italy, we love making puff pastry snacks in all shapes and flavors. They're usually bite-sized and we call them Stuzzichini (it doesn't have a literal translation, but it roughly means "small appetizers"). Other common names are Salatini ("little salty bites") or Rustici (literally "rustic").
Puff Pastry snacks are more commonly served at birthday parties or dinner parties served on a large tray where everyone can pick and choose what they want (sometimes without really knowing what they're eating if the filling is not really obvious, which makes it also a fun surprise).
If I have puff pastry available sometimes I make random snacks to eat for Aperitivo or before our dinner, even if it's just the two of us. I just love Stuzzichini!
Which potatoes are best for this recipe?
Potatoes are the main ingredient of these tarts, aside from puff pastry, so it's important they have a good flavor. My favorites are the red French fingerling potatoes but you can use any potato you can find or like. These are some guidelines to follow to choose the best potatoes for these potato tarts:
- Use waxy potatoes and not starchy ones. The waxy potatoes are perfect for oven roasting because they retain their shape and become crispy while starchy potatoes will crumble.
- Use small potatoes. For this recipe, you have to cut thin slices so it's best to use small potatoes so you get small round slices.
- Use fresh potatoes. Since we're keeping the skin on the potatoes, it's best to use new potatoes. If the potatoes are older and have sprouted, the skin should be peeled off.
Can you make this recipe in advance?
If you're prepping for a big feast like Thanksgiving or Christmas, or even for a birthday party, you might want to prepare as much as possible in advance.
The longest past of this potato tarts recipe is actually prepping the potatoes and thankfully that's the part that you can make in advance!
Clean and slice the potatoes and add them in a bowl. Season with olive oil, salt, rosemary and cover well with plastic wrap. You can keep them in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Make the tarts only at the last minute, otherwise the puff pastry will dry out and it will not puff during the baking.
The Recipe
If you like this recipes, try also these other snacks:
- Taralli - Italian Aperitivo snack
- Puff Pastry Mini Pizza
- Cumin Spelt Saltine Crackers
- Goat cheese and Mushroom Pinwheels
- Puff Pastry Pesto Trees
Potato Rosemary and Cheese Tarts
Ingredients
- 1 roll Puff Pastry
- 1-2 small Potatoes
- 1 cup Grated Cheese, Cheddar, Gouda, Mozzarella, whichever you prefer
- 1 sprig Rosemary, fresh
- Olive Oil
- Salt
- Black Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F.
- Clean the potatoes, then cut them into very thin slices with a mandoline slicer and add them in a bowl. Wash the slices to remove the excess starch, then pat them dry with a towel or with paper towels.
- Add them again in a dry bowl and season with olive oil salt, black pepper, and a teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary. Set aside.
- Unroll the puff pastry and cut it into squares or rectangles of your preferred size. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Add a tablespoon of cheese on top of each puff pastry square and spread it a little bit. Cover with potato slices and a piece of rosemary.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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